Fall back, or fall apart
by ariakekaze
Summary: The world was ending and Lima was going to hell. They were most likely going to die, but hey, at least they'd all die together. AU, Faberry planned. Half of the Glee Club being friends. Quinn as main char. Violence. Humor? Also, Zombies. Slow progress.
1. I guess we're staying

**Author's Note: Hi.**

**WARNINGS**: lots of OOCness, AU stuff, bad run on sentences, bad writing, perhaps inconsistent tenses (oops) and a slow explanation of things that will slowly make sense (or maybe they won't). Romance is not the emphasis of this story, so turn back now if you expect like lovey dovey stuff. People might die, zombies will die... this story might die (i'm bad at consistently writing, sorry). I'm gonna refrain from using curse words in the story so every time you see "freaking" just pretend it's the other word. There could be **Faberry** friendship/romance (romance is **not** my strong point in writing). **Quinn** is going to be the main character because i'm bias and she's my fav. Sit down, I'm not finished.

**BACKGROUND INFO:** babygate never happened, and it's sometime during Season 1 but not really because I don't remember/know much of Season 1. Rachel and Finn are dating, Quinn is single and Puck is still the biggest french whore of them all. Sam isn't here (just like season 3). Sectionals might've happened, Regionals could've happened but it doesn't matter because the world is ending. Also, angels (i'm kidding). But reallly, I've tweaked Quinn's background a bit (a lot). Bear with me as I make up information, just because I can. Things might be wrong, but I assure you I know and I don't care.

There won't be singing because i'm bad at finding lyrics that would work.

I apologize for any spelling mistakes/errors because despite my OCD of trying to make sure it's all correct a few could've sneaked through, like ninjas.

/-/

The constant blaring of the emergency horns is starting to grate on Quinn's nerves as she continues to shove her way through the crowd, eyes moving left and right as she tries to spot a glimpse of a familiar brunette or tall blond somewhere in the masses. It's hard though, because she's the only one moving in the opposite direction of everyone else and people keep getting in her way and she's this close to stomping on the foot of the next person that runs into her but instead she sidesteps them and keeps pushing forward. She does, however, let her Cheerios bag 'accidentally' swing into the back of the person she has dodged and if she hadn't been pressed for time she would've at least allowed a smirk to grace her lips.

But there's no time for that and there's an announcement that in ten minutes they're going to start boarding everyone, starting with the disabled and small children with their parents and then the rest and Quinn is annoyed as she glances down at her phone to see if Santana or Brittany have contacted her at all.

They haven't.

She angrily grits her teeth as someone shoves her and she stumbles to the side and would have fallen if not for a pair of strong arms steadying her.

"Thanks," she mutters and pushes off their hands because time is being wasted.

"Hey girl, where's the fire?" a familiar voice asks her before she can step back into the crowd.

Quinn blinks at the ironic statement considering their situation and then turns her attention back to the group of people she had run into.

Mercedes is looking at her expectantly while Kurt has half his attention on her and half on the crowd as he seems to be searching for someone (Quinn figures it's Finn because he's not there) and Tina, Matt, Artie and Mike are looking at her as well.

"Oh," Quinn says and Mercedes has to stop from rolling her eyes. "Have you seen Santana or Brittany?" Quinn asks instead.

Mercedes shrugs her shoulders and looks over to Kurt who shakes his head absently as his eyes continue to scan the crowd. Quinn looks over to the other four, wondering if they knew and they all shake their heads except Tina, who opens her mouth but then shuts it close when the cheerleader turns her attention onto the Asian girl.

"Tina? Have you seen them?" Quinn asks, barely managing to keep the irritation out of her voice because she knows she shouldn't shoot the messenger.

"Y-yes," the goth girl manages to stutter out and Quinn's this close to snapping at her and Tina knows this and manages to squeak out an answer.

"They w-were by the c-check in, earlier. B-but, I'm not s-sure if they're s-still there...!"

"Thanks," Quinn nods curtly and steps toward the crowd once more.

"Wait!" a high voice calls out to her and impatiently she stops and turns back around. "Have you seen Finn? Or Puck? They went looking for Rachel," Kurt asks and Quinn shakes her head.

"No, I haven't seen them," and Kurt looks so disappointed that Quinn hesitates. "If I do, I'll tell them where to look for you guys," she states before she barrels through the crowd and disappears.

The others watch as she leaves and Kurt sighs before Mercedes places a hand on his shoulder and he gives her a smile.

As Quinn continues to make her way towards her destination, she wonders briefly where a certain short brunette has vanished to.

/-/

Rachel tries, for the tenth time (and she knows this because she has counted) to push open the dumpster lid, hoping that somehow through her efforts that whatever is impeding her escape has somehow disappeared in the last minute and she can finally crawl out of her impromptu jail and make it to the evacuation site before time runs out.

Nothing happens however, even as she slams the flat of her palms against the lid and shoves with all her might.

She sighs and tries to call for help once more. She can only hear the sirens in the distance and knows that the chances of her being rescued are slim. The most disheartening thing though, is the fact that she knows her bag is just outside and inside _that_ is her phone that has been ringing every other minute. It is most likely Finn, trying to locate her because she had not been at their established meeting point.

Rachel swipes at the frustrated tears that have gathered in her eyes with her sweater as she hears her ring tone reverberate through the metal canister once more.

She really wishes that she could actually defy gravity at this moment.

\-\

Quinn finally reaches the edge of the crowd and lo and behold, there are the other two cheerios that she has been searching for. Like Quinn, they are still in their cheer leading uniforms due to the time restraints and she sees their Cheerios bags on the floor besides them. Brittany has a big, brown fluffy looking thing in her arms, and similarly there's something white in Santana's.

She can see that Santana is arguing with the check-in guard and Quinn figures it has to do with whatever both girls are holding. She notices that they're the only ones still in the area; everyone else is most likely awaiting boarding instructions. As she steps closer, she sees that Brittany has her cat, Lord Tubbington in her grip and she guesses that Santana is carrying her other cat, Charity.

Quinn sighs because she knows that this is not going to end well. What she hears when she finally steps within range confirms this.

"…..miss, but pets are not allowed on the—" the guard states before Santana is snarling and starts spouting off colorful words in Spanish.

Brittany is frowning and holds Lord Tubbington closer to her. "They're not pets. They're a part of the family," the blonde states and Santana is nodding and gesturing to the blonde even as the white cat in her hands squirms to escape.

"See! They're a part of the goddamn family! So if you'd _kindly_ step aside, then we can all be on our merry freaking way!" the brunette snaps at the poor guy and he's shaking his head.

Quinn's pretty sure the only thing stopping Santana from decking him is the large military rifle in his grip and she decides to step in before the situation escalates and they end up being banned from escaping altogether. Or worse, the guy ends up shooting them just because he can.

"S!" she calls out to them as she moves closer and three sets of eyes are looking at her and Quinn has the sudden urge to duck her head but instead quickens her stride and in a few more steps she's standing right beside them.

"Sorry about my friend," Quinn smiles politely to the guard who looks warily at all three teenagers but the shorter blonde ignores him and pulls Santana to the side.

"What are you doing?" she hisses. "They're starting to board the stupid buses by now!"

Santana glances over to Brittany who is now trying to convince the guard to pet Lord Tubbington in hopes that he will be charmed by the cat. The brunette leans closer to Quinn.

"They won't let Brittany take her cats on board," she explains quietly and Quinn glances at the white cat that Santana is manhandling. She's about to tell Santana to just dump them, but a glare from the other girl silences her response and Quinn frowns.

"Why didn't you just sneak them in?" Quinn asks instead and this time Santana sighs.

"We did, but halfway Britt accidentally let it slip that she had the cats in her bag and yeah..." She shakes her head in frustration because they had been so close. "Anyways, B won't leave her cats. And if she stays, I stay," Santana concludes and Quinn sighs because she knows that unless pets are suddenly allowed, the two cheerleaders are definitely staying.

Quinn glances over to Brittany who is now flirting with the guard and she knows she might have to use her connections to get her friends _and_ the cats on board, but before she can say anything a familiar voice catches their attention and then Finn and Puck are there, out of breath and slightly sweaty and Quinn crinkles her nose in disgust.

"H-Hey," Finn breathes out before taking a deep gulp of air. "Have you guys seen Rachel?"

"Unfortunately, and I still can't erase the sight from my mind," Santana says sarcastically and Finn doesn't look amused and even Puck is frowning.

"We've been looking everywhere for her—she wasn't where we were supposed to meet up and she's not picking up her phone. We think something happened to her," Puck explains.

"Well, me and Britt have been here for a while now, and no, we haven't seen hide nor hair of the dwarf."

"Quinn?" Finn asks his ex-girlfriend hopefully and she shakes her head.

"No…I saw Mercedes and everyone else earlier but no Ru—Rachel. Kurt mentioned you two were looking for her though," Quinn responds, feeling slightly anxious for the missing singer. "Maybe she went ahead?"

"No, she was the one who told us where to meet. If she changed her mind we would've known hours ago," Finn says as he shakes his head in frustration. It just didn't seem like something Rachel would do.

"Dammit!" Puck curses.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your little reunion here, but they're loading the rest of the passengers now," the guard informs them as he points a thumb behind him. "If you guys don't leave now, they'll leave without you."

Quinn frowns, because she knows that she'll be able to smuggle the two cats on board but delaying the whole evacuation is a whole different story.

"Yeah, well, I'm not going," Finn states almost immediately. "Rachel's out there somewhere—and I-I can't just leave my girlfriend out there all alone."

"I got your back, man," Puck slaps his hand on Finn's shoulder and Quinn wants to roll her eyes at them.

"Yeah, count me and Britts out too," Santana _does_ roll her eyes but then smiles at the taller blonde who is now kneeling down and petting Lord Tubbington.

"See, Lord Tubbington, Charity, mommy's not going to leave you two all by yourselves…"

Quinn feels questioning stares on her and she sighs. She knows she's going to regret it, but if they all want a chance to survive she would be their best bet (even if they didn't know it yet).

"Whatever," Quinn states as she frowns once more. "I could care less about you two losers," she says while nodding to Finn and Puck, "and Berry, but, if S and B stay, I'm staying too."

Santana looks at her with what seems like gratitude in her eyes and Quinn shrugs it off because Quinn doesn't like to dwell on those kinds of emotions.

"So, does this mean you'll help us look for Rachel?" Finn asks hopefully and Santana has a sarcastic response ready but another voice interrupts them.

"Finn!"

They all turn and watch as the tall, lanky form of Kurt runs toward them.

"Kurt? Hey, what's wr—"

"It's Rachel!" Kurt wheezes out as he pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket and starts dabbing at his forehead. "We overheard some of the jocks talking earlier," and he struggles to catch his breath even as Finn grabs him by the shoulders.

"Where is she?" he demands and Kurt looks affronted but manages to steady his breathing before replying.

"They threw her into one of the dumpsters—behind the school," he informs them and then Finn is sprinting into the direction of McKinley High with Puck right behind him.

"Wait! Finn! They're boarding now!" Kurt yells out to their retreating forms but the two football players don't stop.

"God," Santana groans and she shifts her arms but still keeps a steady grip on the white cat that has long since stopped struggling. In fact it even seems content. "I guess we should follow them?" she asks irritably because the thought of having to survive the apocalypse with Rachel Berry would have annoyed anyone.

"Come on, B," Santana says in a nicer tone to the taller blonde before she moves to grab her bag and Brittany's off the floor.

"I'll get that, S," Quinn offers and takes one of the duffel bags. It's surprisingly heavy. Santana nods to her in thanks and they start making their way towards their high school.

"Where are you ladies going? The shuttles are that way," Kurt gestures helplessly behind him and Quinn shakes her head.

"We're staying," she tells him as she shifts the bags to maintain a more comfortable grip. The contents clank and Quinn definitely knows that she's not carrying extra clothes. "They won't let B take her cats, and it's obvious that Finn, Puck and Rachel won't make it back in time," she explains. She notices that the guard is looking at them so she shoots him a glare and he shrugs and starts heading towards the boarding area.

"Wait, what? Are you all ma—"

"You should go, Kurt, or else you'll be stuck here too," Quinn tells him softly before heading over to where Santana is looking at her impatiently. Brittany gives her a smile and then they're walking, side by side as they start taking the safe route that will lead them to McKinley High.

Kurt watches them walk away.

Finally, he pulls out his phone from his pocket and types out a message to Mercedes. He's glad that the messaging system is still intact even if the phone lines are now for emergency use only.

"Wait!" he yells out suddenly and the cheerleaders are still within hearing distance and they all turn, almost like a unit and Kurt reminds himself that these people are now his friends and not his tormentors.

"I'm coming too!" he shouts out and jogs after them.

\-\

'_Something came up. Go on without us. We'll catch up later._'

Mercedes stares blankly at the message that Kurt has sent her and she's frowning even as people start walking around her because she's holding up the line. The doors to the buses will be closing soon but that still doesn't uproot her from her spot.

_'Take care of my LV bag for me, I'll pick it up when I see you again.  
>You're welcomed to use the moisturizer I have inside. It'll do wonders for your skin.'<em>

"Mercedes?" Matt had noticed the girl missing and had urged the others on before he had backtracked and had found her staring at her phone. "What's wrong?"

"It's Kurt… and Finn and them," she answers slowly, as if not believing what she was reading.

"They're not coming back."

/-/


	2. I guess we really are staying

**Author's Note: **Hi. If you're waiting for the Faberryness you'll be waiting for a while because zombieeeeees.

/-/

All in all, Quinn doesn't consider the situation to be as dire as she thinks it could be. Sure, her and her closest friends and _other_ miscellaneous people are now stuck in the city that just this morning the government had labeled as '_problematic'_. And sure, the power generators are already on emergency shut down and running water is lacking due to the possible contamination of the nearby water reservoirs and treatment plants. And sure, most of the south western parts of Lima have been partitioned off due to the numerous amounts of infections and there are additional lines of barricades all over the city blocking pathways and—well, things just aren't as bad as they possibly _could_ be. At least they're all relatively safe and relatively healthy.

For now, anyways.

Quinn and her companions are silent, each lost in their thoughts as their meander and zigzag through the allotted unblocked areas of Lima. In her mind, she's already making a mental of list of things they all need to do in other to survive: look for supplies, look for weapons, look for shelter and ultimately, look for a way to escape. She has a clear idea of where to find most of these and this is one of the reasons why she's not as concerned about their safety as she should be. The only thing she's unsure of is their method of leaving the city. Most (if not all) of the remaining cars have been turned into makeshift metal barricades and it will be hard to find a still operative vehicle on such short notice. They might have to venture into the unsafe areas and search for one there, but Quinn figures they'll cross that bridge when they get to it.

A buzzing sound on her right interrupts her thoughts and she shifts her eyes over to Kurt who had all but jumped at the sound. He gives a nervous laugh because he's already second guessing himself on joining them and reaches into his pockets to pull out his phone.

Quinn wonders who it's from but doesn't care enough to actually check and instead turns back to her thoughts. She can hear Kurt tapping quickly at the keys as he types out a reply. There's slight movement to her left but another buzz distracts her temporarily and then her own phone is buzzing inside her bag.

She's about to reach over and grab her phone from the side pocket when Santana suddenly shoots out an arm and pulls Brittany back. The movement startles Quinn momentarily and she's about to ask what happened when she realizes that Santana is still staring straight ahead. Quinn quickly turns her attention over to what has the other Cheerio distracted.

There, ambling slowly in a drunk like gait is one of the rumored infected that had started this whole mess in the first place. Even from their distance, they can see its pale pallor and abnormal appearance as it shambles on aimlessly. Its clothes are torn rags and its limbs look broken and there's something so wrong and unnatural about the way it looks that Quinn has to suppress the sudden urge to shudder in disgust.

They all stand, frozen in horror and maybe with a little bit of fascination because this is the first time any of them has actually _seen_ a zombie. The infection had started weeks ago but quick military intervention and established guard posts had kept the public generally safe from the undead threats. Until today, that is.

"Q," Santana's voice is a hoarse whisper and Quinn notices that her own throat feels a bit dry. "I thought… didn't they say they isolated most of them in the southwest…?"

Quinn nods slowly because she knows that there are barricades located all around the city for a reason. The stations have only been abandoned hours ago in preparation for the evacuation and this area they are currently in is far enough from the supposed 'zombie hotspot' that they shouldn't even be seeing a zombie until hours from now, especially with all the roadblocks in place. Things are seriously not adding up and maybe _problematic _is the new understatement of the year.

"Yeah…" Quinn answers unsurely and now she thinks that perhaps she should be more worried about their situation.

"Okay… so what do we do?" Kurt harshly whispers. "He's—it's—whatever that thing is, is getting closer!"

Quinn licks her lips nervously. From her peripheral vision, she can see Brittany tighten her grip on Lord Tubbington and Santana doing likewise with the smaller white cat in her arms.

"Let's just go around it," she finally decides. "It's moving pretty slow—and it seems like it's the only one so far…we should be able to ditch it easily."

Another buzz sounds off suddenly and they all jump slightly at the interruption. Even the zombie seems to have zeroed in on the noise because it's movements abruptly seem a bit more concise and Quinn swears (though she knows she shouldn't) that its head had swiveled to their direction and she's not sure if it actually still has eyes but she can almost feel it's gaze on her.

"Come on!" she says sharply, and her voice breaks their dazed stares and they're all moving to the left and giving the infected creature a wide berth.

Almost as if it has sensed them through its sightless eyes, (they're empty black sockets, Quinn notices) it suddenly throws itself to the side in a desperate lunge. It's not even close to touching any of them, but the action itself is enough to scare everyone and Kurt lets out a high pitched shriek which causes Brittany to scream and Santana barely manages to hold onto Charity as the cat almost shoots out of her grasp and then Quinn is urging them to move faster.

"Go, go, go!" she orders and they all take off running.

Left in their dust, the zombie groans pathetically after them and slowly tries to crawl its way back to its feet.

\-\

By the time they reach McKinley, they're all breathing hard and the extra bag Quinn is carrying feels like a sack of bricks and the strap is digging painfully into her shoulder. She wants to drop it but refrains from doing so because she's sure Santana will do something to her if she does. The constant metal clanking has already given her an idea of what's inside, but she stops herself from checking the contents until they've reached their actual destination.

The sight of the familiar red bricked building somehow calms their nerves. The panic starts to recede as they slow down to catch their breaths and they're soon heading over to the back where the dumpsters are. Santana is sure she'll need to pry off Charity with a crow bar and Brittany still looks scared and Kurt is pale and Quinn is still glancing behind her but the immediate threat is gone (for now) and there's a collective sigh of relief all around as the sight of Finn and Puck helping Rachel out from the trash cans greets them when they round the corner.

Their sudden appearance surprises the short brunette and she loses her footing and is slipping back into the container but Finn has a strong hold on her and keeps her from falling in. Within moments, he's helping lift her out and settling her steadily to the ground right next to Puck. Rachel hugs Finn almost immediately and watches as the Cheerios and Kurt make their way towards them.

As soon as they're close enough, Quinn stops and lowers her bags onto the concrete and rolls her shoulder. There's a red mark from the pressure of where the handles dug into her shoulder but one quick glance at Santana's arms that are lined with multiple bleeding scratches stops Quinn from commenting. Those cuts will need to be disinfected and now that the adrenaline is fading, Santana is scowling and Quinn decides not to further irritate her friend for the time being.

Rachel finally detaches herself from Finn's embrace and she gives Puck's arm a squeeze which earns her a wink and all three step closer to the new arrivals.

Brittany decides to sit on the floor and settles down while maintaining a grip on Lord Tubbington. She's looking worriedly at the scratches on Santana's arms but the other cheerleader shrugs and instead holds out Charity to the taller blonde. The cat immediately leaps into Brittany's arms and then her two family members are nestled safely in her lap.

Rachel clears her throat as her eyes shine with unspoken gratitude. Quinn can almost feel the waves of disgust rolling off from Santana so she decides to ignore the scene in front of her and instead squats down to the bags on the floor. Kurt is fixated on his phone and he's frowning at the screen and the only ones who are paying attention to Rachel at this point are Santana, Finn and Puck.

"I just—I just wanted to thank you all—" Rachel starts off but Santana is scoffing and rolling her eyes.

"As if, Berry. We definitely did not come here to save _you_," she snaps out.

Rachel is undeterred however, and continues as if the other girl hadn't interrupted. "Regardless of your intentions, the mere fact that you are all here, instead of at the evacuation area speaks otherwise."

Quinn tunes out Santana's harsh rebuttal as her curiosity finally gets the best of her and she reaches over and unzips Brittany's Cheerio bag. Kurt, who notices the action, glances over to the blonde and they both peer inside the bag when it's finally open.

Quinn blinks and Kurt can't help the small chortle that escapes from his mouth.

There's at least _100_ or more cans of cat food inside.

"Lord Tubbington only likes that one brand," Brittany says quietly from where she's petting both her cats on the floor. "And he doesn't like to share. He and Charity fought once over food...Never again."

Quinn nods hesitantly before her eyes automatically look over to Santana because she's wondering what's inside the bag that she's still carrying. Before she can ask however, there's that text message alert sounding off once more and Kurt is back to looking at his phone. Almost immediately after, Quinn's own phone buzzes, followed by Rachel's and then Finn's and then Puck's.

Brittany's phone goes off as well, but it's not heard because it's still back in her room under the clothes she hadn't packed and likewise Santana's phone buzzes from its spot right beside the blonde's phone.

The arguing stops and they all glance at each other wearily, feeling the unspoken sense of dread before reaching for their respective phones. Quinn moves a bit so that Santana and Brittany can see as well when she notices that they don't have their phones.

It's a message from Mercedes, addressed to them all:

_'We tried everything to delay them and Mike and Matt even tried leaving the bus but they wouldn't let them out! You better get your sorry butts over to Indiana soon! We don't know how but we know you'll think of something.' _

_'We'll never forgive you guys if you get yourselves killed! New Directions is now missing 7 important members, yes, even you Rachel, and we won't be complete until we're all reunited. Everyone wishes you guys and gals good luck and don't forget to take care of each other because we're family!'_

_'P.S. Mike and Matt say to kick some zombie butt and something about head shots'_

It's a heart felt message that suddenly brings to light the dark situation that they've actually thrown themselves into.

Quinn frowns suddenly as she notices something. "Hey, you guys hear that?" she asks quietly.

Everyone is still silently rereading their message even as they listen to the sounds around them.

"Uhmm, I don't hear anything…?" Brittany finally replies and there's a sharp intake of breath as Rachel realizes the implications.

"Yeah, exactly," Quinn murmurs as it quickly dawns on the others.

There's silence in the background and it's quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

The emergency sirens are finally off. Which means the power is off, _which means the city has officially been abandoned._


	3. I guess we're splitting up

**Author's Note:** **thank you for all the reviews**! Let's see, i'll clarify some things. This story is gonna be **slow**. If you're waiting for zombie killing/crazy action scenes, you'll be waiting for a while...maybe. Or if they do appear it's not gonna be like intense. Uhm, Faberry might start showing up soon, who knows.

There's lotsa zombie fics popping up so I'm actually hesitant with continuing/uploading the story (though i've written the epilogue in my head already)

This chapter contains: bunches of information, lots of talking (LOTS!), Humour that might not be that funny actually. I should switch the category to Friendship/NOTHumor. its like ZWZ (zombies, what zombies?). kidding. (no, not really)** ALSO: convenient plot devices and Quinn is too cool for school and Finn is ...Finn**. Oh and Finn and Kurt aren't step-brothers! so they don't live in the same house. Ok? Okay. IN fact this Kurt is still enamored by Finn... yeah. let's go with that. Maybe. I don't know what i'm writing anymore.

/-/

Quinn is sitting on the floor next to Brittany and is absently petting Charity as she watches Santana and Finn argue with occasional commentary from Rachel.

Their topic of discussion: who should be the group leader.

Everything had started when they were trying to determine what they should do and Finn had stepped up, saying that he would take the responsibility of being leader (because of him being co-captain of the Glee club and something about dragging them all into this mess even though he had nothing to do with the Cheerios staying) and he totally knew what he was doing because of his extensive video game knowledge. Santana had immediately declared mutiny and then Quinn's name was thrown out as leader instead and everything had gone downhill from there.

Quinn actually thinks there are more pressing matters at hand but she's just enjoying the show for now.

Anyways, the arguing is really mostly just Santana insulting Finn as she rebukes all his reasons and Rachel is weakly trying to support him but the cheerleader is really, _really_ good at pointing out his flaws and it's getting to the point where Quinn almost feels sorry for Finn.

Almost being the keyword here.

Kurt is on the sidelines, trying to wait for the right moment to interject but he hasn't yet because he doesn't want Santana's wrath forced upon himself. And Puck? Well, he doesn't really care and instead keeps switching between ogling Rachel's legs and short skirt and then back to looking Santana's chest. Quinn figures he's probably having some disgusting teenage fantasy about the two brunettes and it's only confirmed when he catches the blonde's gaze and winks.

Quinn rolls her eyes in disgust and shakes her head. She then sighs softly, because she knows she needs to stop Santana soon. They're wasting precious daylight standing (or sitting) around when they could be using it searching for supplies. Not to mention the zombie they ran into earlier has her worried about their safety.

But, Quinn figures she'll let the other girl let off some steam first before interrupting. That, and she thinks that some of Santana's insults are really funny.

She's getting distracted so she turns her attention back onto Santana and Finn to determine if she'll need to step in yet. There's a small gap in between Santana being funny and just being plain mean and Quinn will join in if she thinks the other cheerleader is crossing that line.

"….okay, you just did not play the 'Captain of the football team' card right now, because Finnonence, you couldn't lead your team out of a paper bag even if there were two openings, and…"

Nope, she's still being funny so Quinn chuckles, earning her a glare from Rachel and Finn shoots her his patented wounded puppy look that gains him her own patented roll of the eyes.

"Alright!" the short singer says suddenly, clapping her hands to gain everyone's attention. Her voice echoes and seems louder due to the quiet of their surroundings and it startles everyone, including Rachel herself. She pauses momentarily as they hear her voice bounce off the walls before slowly fading away.

The hesitation is almost enough time for Santana to shoot off an insult but the shorter girl quickly continues.

"Well, I propose that instead of, ahem, resorting to immature insults," she glares pointedly at Santana, "we should rather take the opportunity to act like civilized people and decide with democracy!"

"Uh…" Finn looks confused and Santana merely gives Rachel a look, as if to say 'this is the guy you want in charge of us during an apocalypse?'

"She means we'll decide by vote," Kurt clarifies and Finn nods slowly before immediately brightening because he knows he has an advantage.

"Those in favor of Team Finn?" Rachel asks as she proudly raises her arm. Finn and Kurt join in and Santana scoffs because she already knows the outcome. The shorter brunette smiles at her boyfriend and then to Kurt as she counts their votes, but she frowns suddenly when she realizes Puck doesn't have his arm up.

"Noah!" she turns to him and he shrugs.

"What? It would totally be hot if Quinn's leader. She can totally order me around any day—ow!" he steps away from Rachel as he rubs at his now stinging arm. She glares at him and then he raises his arm grudgingly.

"Four votes for Team Finn!" Rachel grins and then looks over to the two blondes that are sitting on the floor. "And, although the conclusion is fairly obvious, just to be fair, we'll still count the votes of those in favor of Team Quinn!"

Santana narrows her eyes at Rachel and wordlessly draws a finger across her neck. The dried blood on the cheerleader's arm makes the action seem even more menacing and the shorter girl squeaks and moves closer to Finn who puts an arm around his girlfriend in a protective gesture.

"A-anyway, those in favor of Team Quinn?" Rachel asks again.

Santana sighs and then raises her hand slowly because she thinks this voting thing is bogus, and Brittany follows the brunette's example but raises her arms while holding Lord Tubbington. Quinn shrugs and votes for herself the same way as Brittany except she's holding Charity up instead.

"Three votes for Team Quinn!" Rachel declares smugly. "So, it's decided then! Finn will be— "

"It's five votes, not three, Rachel," Brittany cuts in suddenly. "Even I can count up to five."

"Uhm, Brittany—" and Rachel wants to say something but Santana's glare stops her short.

"You totally forgot to count Lord Tubbington and Charity," the taller blonde says matter of factly.

"Yeah, you totes forgot to count them," Santana adds in, adopting Rachel's earlier smug attitude as she crosses her arms across her chest.

Quinn knows she's going to have to jump in soon because she knows Rachel's going to say something and Santana's not going to like it.

"Brittany," Rachel tries again and ignores the cheerleader in front of her. "You can't—cats _can't_ vote."

The taller cheerleader frowns and that's the cue for protective Santana to rear her ugly head.

"Last time I checked, _dwarves_ can't vote either! In fact—"

"OKAY!" Quinn says suddenly as she shoots up from her spot on the floor with Charity still in her arms. Things are only going to escalate at this point and they've already wasted enough time. Quinn's one of the few people Santana will listen to (sometimes) so she levels her fellow cheerleader with a look, telling her to back off. Santana growls and points her index and middle finger at her eyes and then points them at Rachel's.

"I'm watching you, _hobbit_," she hisses and Quinn clears her throat and steps forward.

"I have a better idea. We'll split up," and Quinn shifts the cat around and holds up a hand. "So not finished yet, Berry."

The short singer's mouth closes shut and the blonde quirks an eyebrow before continuing. "We'll settle this based on our abilities—"

In the background, Santana coughs and Quinn knows the other Cheerio is alluding to something crude because Puck laughs but she ignores it. "—on how well we gather supplies. Basically, we need to prove to the others _why_ we'll be good leaders." She's actually killing two birds with one stone here by getting them to move and think about their situation.

Everyone's quiet as they think over the blonde's proposition. Most of them are just glad that they're finally doing something.

"Wait, so you want us to like, go around the city, and collect stuff and whoever has the most will win?" Finn asks as his brows furrow because it almost feels like Quinn is tricking them.

"Yes, Finn," Quinn sighs. "Like in those games you play, when you go searching for extra ammo and weapons, etc," she explains and Finn's eyes light up with the reference.

"Yeah! That totally makes sense! We need to search for like food and weapons and stuff," he says while nodding and Rachel gives him an unsure smile because Quinn already seems to be winning. She's manipulating the entire situation and Finn doesn't seem to have caught on.

"So, we'll lead our respective teams around the city for like, say, two hours, and then we'll meet back here."

"Wait, why two hours?" Kurt asks suddenly.

Quinn answers by pointing to the sky. "It's already late afternoon, and there's maybe 3 hours of daylight left. I don't know about you guys, but I'd feel a lot safer being inside when the sun sets."

Everyone shudders at the thoughts of being in the dark with those things crawling around and instantly agree.

"Wait, uh, but isn't that kind of dangerous and unfair?" Finn says. "I mean, my team has two guys here, uh three, if you count Kurt, I guess."

"Thanks, Finn," Kurt says sarcastically and the football player shrugs apologetically.

"…and your team is all girls and—" but before he can continue Quinn and Santana glare angrily at him and he holds his hands up in defense.

"You better not finish that thought, Hudson," Santana states dangerously.

From his side, Rachel slaps him on the arm.

"Ow! Hey, I thought you were a pacifier or something!"

"I'm a pacifist, Finn, but that's beside the point!" she yells at him, obviously insulted.

"Well, it's true! All I'm saying is that me and Puck, we're like the best chance we all have of us surviving! We have experience with zombies and—and everything else! Quinn's team is already at a disadvantage. It's obvious who's going to win! And, it's like scientific fact that girls are weaker than guys!" Finn tries to defend himself and he looks over to Puck who's shaking his head at his best friend.

"Hey man, don't drag me into this," Puck says as he takes a step back.

Finn realizes he should shut up now before he digs himself in even deeper.

Quinn narrows her eyes at Finn. "Consider it a 'handicap' then, Hudson, because _you_ will definitely need one in order to win," she declares icily and then she hands Charity over to Santana before lifting her bag and the bag full of cat food up and shouldering it. "Try not to get killed," she states before she's turning away and Brittany is standing and then all three of them are heading back around towards the front of the school. Before they disappear, Santana makes sure to glare at them once more and then they're gone.

The remaining teens watch as the cheerleaders leave and then three turn to the tall football captain. Rachel looks livid, Kurt looks mildly offended and Puck is still standing a bit away.

Team Finn is obviously off to a great start.

"Right!" Finn says nervously as Rachel frowns at him. "So…uh, in this one game…"

\-\

They're walking and they're quiet and Santana's staring at her team leader with such scrutiny that Quinn's struggling to keep from directing her scowl at her.

Santana chuckles suddenly, because she thinks the blonde has such weird quirks. For someone who likes being in the spotlight, Quinn sure hates being watched. It's weird.

"What, S?" the blonde finally snaps and turns to look at Santana with a raised eyebrow.

The brunette shrugs and shifts Charity to a better position. The action draws attention to her arms and Quinn makes a mental note to look for a first aid kit first.

"Nothing. Just, you know, hoping you know what you're doing," Santana responds. "'cos you know how I feel about having to follow Frankenteen…it's bad enough him and that dwarf are leading Glee club. But trusting him with our lives? Hells no. If he wins, I just might have to cut someone. And by someone, I mean Finn… And by cut, I mean kill."

Quinn scoffs and there's that attitude that earned her the position of Head Cheerio making itself known. "As if you even need to ask," is all she says.

Santana nods and for once she actually feels that maybe things will be alright. Because if the blonde can still act as if today is just another ordinary day, then they have nothing to worry about for the time being.

"Alright, so wheres we headed then?" she asks curiously.

Quinn merely gestures to the building that they've been walking around as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Isn't that under lockdown?" Santana frowns.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue wouldn't even let me go back in to grab my diary," Brittany pouts because she had kept it in her locker for safe keeping from her cats and had forgotten to get it before they were ushered out for the evacuation. She and Santana had tried all the doors and windows but they had been unable to find one unlocked when they had gone back. Figgins had drastically upped the security ever since the break in last year.

Quinn shrugs. "Puck or I could easily break in," she answers and they continue to walk until they're in front of the school.

She stops and the other Cheerios do the same and Quinn gives them a sly grin as she reaches up and pulls at her necklace, revealing the usual golden cross that had been safely tucked away in her shirt. There's also something else hanging on the gold chain that catches Santana's eye: It's a key.

"But why break in, when you can just walk right in?"

/-/

After a brief debate, Finn's team has decided to split themselves in two. Him and Rachel are heading over to his house for the bag of clothes he had left behind and Puck and Kurt are going to grab their own clothes. Afterwards, they will meet up at the Walmart located on Cable St. and are going to try and scrounge up supplies around the area. Many of the markets and stores were already emptied by the remaining citizens before the evacuation but they're hoping that some things have been overlooked. Finn's not sure what Quinn's game plan is, but he assumes she's going to the area around her neighborhood because he hasn't seen her team yet and there's only one path leading to the main stores and Finn and Rachel are currently on it. It doesn't matter though, because Finn knows he has to win. His pride is on the line now.

The football Captain frowns and then looks down at his disturbingly silent girlfriend.

The short brunette had volunteered to leave her own duffel bag near the dumpsters (they figured there was no one to take it anyways) so that she can help carry additional supplies because she figured they'll need all the help they can get.

Despite her support however, Rachel's still mad at Finn which is apparent because she keeps huffing and sighing and refuses to hold his hand as they walk through the streets. Not even the near encounter with a zombie had deterred her anger although she had clung to him in fear but had quickly moved away once she realized what she was doing.

"Rachel, I'm really, really sorry," Finn apologizes again and gives her his most pathetic look. She frowns and he continues pouting and Rachel really can't stay mad at Finn. Because if it wasn't for him she'd still be stuck in the dumpster waiting to die while the world ended.

How can she be mad at the guy who ignored his own safety just for her?

"No, I should be the one apologizing Finn. In a way, your chauvinistic comment was correct; there are in fact, many studies of the differences between the physical attributes of both female and male and it has been proven that men are indeed stronger than women."

"Uhm..?" Finn looks at her with slight confusion and she finally gives him a smile.

"Thank you, Finn, for coming back to rescue me," Rachel tells him sincerely as she steps closer to him and takes his hand.

Finn gives her his usual lop sided smile, because he's happy that she has forgiven him.

As soon as she's no longer looking up at him however, his eyes shift to the side guiltily.

\-\

Down some other streets, Kurt and Puck are heading first to Puck's house and then over to Kurt's. The smaller of the pair is struggling not to look disgusted as the football player tells him about some places where he knows they can find some weapons.

"..so I know that one lady, her husband keeps a handgun in her underwear drawer—"

"and WHY do you know what she keeps in her understand drawer?" Kurt interrupts and is looking at Puck incredulously. He just smirks and then Kurt is shuddering in disgust. "Ugh! Capital T-M-I!"

/-/

The first thing they do when they enter the school is head over to the infirmary where Quinn uses the key to open the door and she then quickly locates the medical kit and helps Santana disinfect her cuts. She sticks some band aids on the wounds and then they're once more walking through the empty halls with purpose.

It's quiet, and their footsteps echo throughout the building and Santana is kind of creeped out but she tries to ignore it because Quinn looks fine and even Brittany seems content.

As they're moving, Brittany pokes Santana on the shoulder, startling her, but the expectant look from the tall blonde answers her unasked question and she sighs before she mumbles a quiet thank you to Quinn. Quinn smirks in response because she has always found it amusing how much Santana caters to Brittany.

"Whatevers, Q," the brunette scowls and then she's nodding to her cheer captain, gesturing to the key. The abandoned school is bothering her so she decides to fill in the stillness with conversation. "So, where'd you get that anyways?"

Quinn shrugs but doesn't reply and instead continues to lead them through the familiar hallways until they're in front of a very well-known door.

"Okay, Q, seriously," Santana says and if her hands were free she would have placed them on her hips. She is annoyed that the blonde has totally been holding out on her. They could have done so much stuff with the school's master key.

Quinn's unimpressed but gives in because she wants to keep Santana relatively happy. "Coach," is all the blonde says before she takes out the magic key once more and uses it to unlock the door.

"Hold up, Coach Sylvester gave you that key?" Santana is looking suspiciously at Quinn now and the cheerleader quirks that infamous eyebrow of hers because she swears (seriously, bad habit!) the brunette is checking her out.

"Yes…" Quinn answers slowly, unsure why the other girl suddenly looks disturbed.

"So it's true then?" Santana demands after a beat.

"Uh, that Coach gave me the key? Yes, I just said—"

"No! Not that. You know, about the rumors," Santana supplies unhelpfully and Quinn's shaking her head because she's seriously confused.

"Uh, okay what?"

"That you're Coach Sylvester's illegitimate kid."

The key drops from Quinn's fingers and if it hadn't been attached to her necklace it would have clattered onto the floor.

The blonde makes a strangled noise and then manages to shout out an indignant "What!" because she's never actually heard that rumor before.

"Well," Santana shrugs. "You're both blonde—"

"Brittany's blonde! There's a bunch of people in the school that are blonde!" Quinn retorts loudly but she doesn't care that her voice is now carrying across the halls because Santana's absolutely crazy.

"..and Coach actually likes you. Like, you two both scarily get along, and you're kind of similar—"

"Yeah, totally," Brittany agrees.

"So people were saying you're her kid, or whatever," Santana concludes and Quinn doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

She decides to go with irritation instead.

"Okay, first of all, no! You've met my mom!"

"Irrelevant," is Santana's response.

"And second of all, if anything, Coach would be like, the-person-who-is-not-related-to-me-but-I'd-consider-her-my-crazy-aunt-with-the-bunch-of-cats kind of person, except, you'd replace her cats with trophies and yeah she'd be the-person-who-is-not-related-to-me-but-I'd-consider-her-my-crazy-aunt-with-the-bunch-of-trophies," Quinn says and Santana doesn't look convinced and even Brittany looks skeptical.

"How long has this rumor been going on anyways?" she asks instead and Santana and Brittany glance at each other before turning back to their captain.

"Since High School started?" Santana questions the taller blonde.

"No way, I think they started after Q transferred here. Remember, someone mentioned they saw her talking to Coach and Coach was smiling or something?" Brittany says and Santana is nodding.

"Yeah! I remember that!"

"Okay. _OKAY_," Quinn shakes her head then takes a calming breath and slowly exhales. She looks at the other two cheerleaders and then sighs again before turning to the door. She twists the knob and then pushes the door open to Coach Sylvester's office.

"Look, I'll explain everything but let's go in first and start getting ready," she offers and Santana shrugs and then nods and her and Brittany both follow the head Cheerio into the room.

"Okay, so you know how my dad is in the military," Quinn starts off but she stops when Santana shakes her head and Brittany doesn't say anything. "I mentioned this when I transferred here back in 8th grade?" she asks. "It's one of the reasons I moved here in the first place?"

The other two cheerleaders stare blankly at Quinn and the blonde swears (she should really stop that) the cats are looking at her with pity on their little faces.

"_Wow_, okay then," Quinn rolls her eyes. Some friends they are. Even after two years… "So yeah, my _dad_ is in the military and mom wanted me to at least have a real 'high school experience' or however she phrased it. She convinced my dad to request to transfer to the base in Ohio because it's both his and her home state. By convincing I mean she threatened for divorce and dad caved and we moved," the blonde explains as she continues to lead the other two through the office and into the back.

"But you live in a house," Brittany says and Quinn nods.

"Yeah, dad is living on-base but mom and I are living in my grandparent's old house since she wanted a normal life or whatever. It took a lot of convincing i.e. blackmail, but the commute from the base to Lima isn't that far so dad finally agreed," Quinn says offhandedly. She actually prefers it being just her and her mom. Her dad is entirely too overbearing and he makes Coach Sylvester seem like a teddy bear sometimes.

They're now standing in front of the largest display of trophies that their Coach has in her office.

"Ok, so… what does that have to do with your crazy Aunt?" Santana asks and Quinn glares at her before she unlocks the glass display and slides it open. She's quiet as she reaches up and grabs one of the smaller trophies, twisting it to the right before kneeling down and moving another trophy to the left.

"You know Coach's weird stories about the war and stuff like that?" the blonde asks instead as she stands up and pushes the biggest trophy on the middle shelf back. There's a click that surprises Santana and suddenly she's not so sure Coach is that crazy anymore.

"Well," Quinn continues to explain as she reaches forward and then the wall attached to the display is sliding out, revealing a hidden door from behind. "Half of her stories are lies peppered with truths here and there," she says and then stops as she turns to look at Santana.

"She _is_ a part of the military though, and that's how I met her and why we get along so well. She knows what it's like, growing up, moving from base to base, so I guess we just clicked, or whatever," Quinn shrugs and then she turns the door knob and swings the door open.

Santana's eyes widen at the sight before them and she almost drops Charity but the cat meows in protest and she remembers to keep her arms up.

"Ay Dios Mio," the brunette whispers and Quinn grins.

"She's also an avid gun collector."


	4. I guess this makes me leader

**Author's Notes: **as always, thanks for reviewing! it's exciting seeing a new review, but they're not required so thanKs for that.

THIS chapter should be split in two but I couldn't find a good place to stop at :( Anyways everything is slowly being set, and the pace should be picking up... or maybe not. I don't know. This story could be boring, who knowsss *yawnnnn* this chapter is really long.. and there might be mistakes. but oops

... ugh I should stop editing the story with the document thing for this website. it keeps logging me off and i just keep losing all my edits. WHY ARENT YOU KEEPING ME LOGGED IN FOR THREE DAYYYYS? *cries*

/-/

The thing about Coach Sylvester is that above all else, Quinn really does respect her. Sometimes, on a good day, the cheerleader would even admit that she maybe even looked up to her (_maybe_).

Nevertheless, time and time again there are things that always remind Quinn that Coach is just a _little_ bit too crazy. Case in point: what sane person would own fifty pairs of the _same exact tracksuit_ in the _same_ _exact_ _color_?

Quinn doesn't know.

She closes that cabinet quickly and then moves on to the next. The cheer captain has only actually been into this room twice in her life. Once, when she was a freshman and Coach had her on gun cleaning duties as punishment for stepping out of line(never again), and the second time being right at this moment. Other than the shelves lined with an extensive amount of firearms, Quinn's not sure what else Coach has stocked up in the room and she's hoping to find something hidden that will benefit their survival.

The next door she opens reveals even more clothes but to Quinn's relief it's not more tracksuits; they're actually MultiCam style military uniforms. Shirt, jacket, pants, boots, hats and even socks. It's the complete set and they're all neatly lined up and still in their plastic wrappings. The blonde glances down at herself, at her red Cheerios uniform that's covering not enough and then glances back into the cabinet. She hates military clothes because it reminds her too much of her childhood living on base, but she figures it'll be a lot better than any of the outfits she has packed. She looks over to where their bags are set besides the doorway and assumes that Santana and Brittany have no other clothes considering one bag is _entirely_ filled with only cat food. She can't even pretend to know what they were even thinking. For now though, it seems like these are a great alternative.

"S, B," she calls over to the other cheerleaders who are still staring at the massive gun collection. They both turn to look at her and she takes out two uniforms and holds them up for them to see.

Brittany squeals happily because she thinks military uniforms are hot.

"Seriously?" Santana asks and then she's walking to Quinn's side and peering into the open door. She gives a low whistle of appreciation. "There's enough in there to dress up the entire school..."

"Yeah, it's either these, or those tracksuits of hers that you love so much," the blonde points over to the other door and Santana shudders and quickly grabs the uniform with her free hand.

"Britt, close the door so I can set Charity down," Santana calls over to the taller blonde who easily moves over and shuts the door.

Charity is lowered and Santana rubs her arms in relief. Lord Tubbington joins the smaller cat and then Brittany is twirling over to Quinn.

"Are there any other colors? I would totally look awesome in yellow," she asks curiously and Quinn shakes her head. Brittany pouts but takes the other set. "Bummer."

"It doesn't matter what color they are in B, we'll still look smokin'" Santana says as she unzips her cheer skirt. The taller blonde brightens immediately and starts changing as well.

Quinn turns back and takes another set for herself, promptly removing the plastic coverings. She notices that the material is the flame resistant type. Awesome. If they ever need to run through fire they'll be ready.

Their skirts are dropped and the new trousers are slipped over their spanks and the sand colored shirt replaces their red and white cheer shirt. The white issued Cheerio tennis shoes are shucked off and matching sand colored socked feet are placed into their new boots. Quinn decides to wear her jacket zipped up halfway while Brittany keeps hers open. Santana however, merely ties the jacket to her waist and dons one of the hats and within minutes they're all dressed in their new uniforms and looking like soldiers. If Coach was here she'd be proud. Maybe. Or just upset that they were stealing her clothes.

Quinn hangs up her old cheerleading outfit and places it back into the closet, almost like she's trading it off to placate her coach. The other two follow her example and hang theirs up as well.

"We're totes rocking this look," the brunette states as she checks herself and the other two blondes over.

"The jacket is fine, but the pants are a bit long since none of us are the same height as Coach," Quinn comments as examines their new clothes. "I saw some elastic we can use to blouse the pants and jacket if we need to or we can just roll them up. Maybe we'll need to find better fitting shoes but for now these will do."

When there's no reply Quinn glances up to the other two and notices that they're lost in their own world. Santana's grinning as she shows off her new look to Brittany and Quinn is torn between smiling or rolling her eyes.

She does neither and turns her attention back to her surroundings and her gaze is drawn in on the three Cheerio bags that seem out of place and to the two cats that are exploring the new environment. Realization dawns on Quinn's face as she connects the two and she frowns and is suddenly across the room and unzipping Santana's bag in a flash.

She groans loudly when she sees what's inside and looks over to Santana who is now smirking at her while she glares back.

"Thanks, Team Leader!" Santana cackles loudly.

"Bite me, Lopez," is all Quinn can say.

Inside Santana's bag: two small cat pillows, a plastic mouse, a grooming brush and _nothing_ else. She had been carrying _feathers_ while Quinn had been stuck with 15 pounds of cat food.

"Wait, why would she bite you, Q? San, are you a zombie?"

\-\

Kurt frowns at his phone for the fifth time in the last minute and the action is enough to annoy Puck into finally responding.

"There a reason you keep looking at that thing like it has all the answers in the world, Hummel?" the mohawked boy demands.

Kurt shakes his head and shows his companion his phone, pointing to the top. "I can't get any reception and I haven't received any new messages from Mercedes ever since that last one addressed to the whole team. What about your phone?"

The football player quickly digs into his pockets and takes out the device. He checks the bars and notices that there's none.

"Try messaging me," he says instead.

A text is expertly typed out and they both wait to see if it sends.

'_Message Sending Failed._'

'_Retry? Y/N'_

"Damn," Puck curses.

Their last means of contact with the outside world is officially gone.

"Maybe it's only temporary?" Kurt throws out hopefully. Both of them know that's not the case but they're too afraid to confirm it by saying it aloud.

"Yeah, maybe. We should go tell Finn and Rachel the _good_ news."

/-/

An hour later, the newly dressed Cheerios are walking back through the halls and are making their way towards the exit. Quinn had spent a good part of that hour trying to convince Brittany into placing her cats back inside Santana's duffel bag.

"But what if they suffocate?"

"You don't have to zip it all the way up, B. They were fine earlier when you had them in there, weren't they?"

"But what if they get carsick?"

"…We're walking, Britt."

"But Lord Tubbington's afraid of the dark and Charity's afraid of heights and what if they start hyperventilating and I can't save them because I can't see them?"

At this point, Quinn had pulled Santana aside.

"How did you get her to put her cats in the bag earlier?"

"Oh, you have NO idea," Santana shook her head as she recalled the painful memory.

"Okay, well whatever you did, do it again because otherwise those cats are going to be trouble for us later."

"Hey, _you're_ the leader. This team's named after you, ain't it? So gets your leaderness on and stop pushing your job on me."

"_Santana."_

Pause.

"I bribed her with candy, but she ate it all so I can't help you."

Quinn had sighed and then glanced over to the other blonde and then back to the brunette. After a few moments a grin appeared as an idea hit her and she moved over to Brittany and whispered something in her ear. They both looked over to Santana and then the taller blonde had a smile on her face and she was nodding and helping coax her cats into the bag.

"What did you just do, Fabray?" Santana had growled and Quinn smirked, looking proud.

"I just told her you'd help brush Lord Tubbington and Charity when they're released later."

"I will _so_ get you for this," Santana had hissed and then they were finally starting to make their way outside.

In addition to their new clothes, Quinn has managed to find an extra backpack in one of the drawers. She has grabbed two M4 carbine semi-automatic rifles, two Colt-45s handguns and extra ammunition for both and has stuffed them all inside. The pack is heavy but it's manageable and Santana is now carrying both the cat food _and_ Quinn's bag anyways so the weight is not a real problem.

Along with the guns in the bag, Quinn has a SR-25 EMC sniper rifle slung around her shoulder. The gun has a better telescoping attachment than the M4 and she plans to use it for long distance surveillance.

Santana is also outfitted with the M4, but Brittany has decided to grab an AK-74, preferring the brown patches of the gun to the plain black metal of the other ones. Santana had seemed scared of Brittany handling a weapon but Quinn had caught her eye and shook her head and she had no choice but to let it go.

They're decked out in their new uniforms and their rifles are locked and loaded (safety up, of course). Quinn pushes the Main entrance door open and they're walking back into the soon to be waning daylight with the door closing and locking itself behind them. The sun will eventually set and then the city will be plunged in darkness. If everything pans out correctly, Quinn's hoping they'll all be indoors by then.

The blonde scans the area to see if there's sign of Team Finn and instead there's three lumbering undead figures to the side heading towards the back and two more approaching the building in front of them.

The noise of the metal doors had caught all but the furthest zombie's attention and they all turn as one and start moving towards the girls.

"Okay, well, guess it's time for your first lesson in Rifle 101, S," Quinn says quickly as she places her bag down and motions for Santana to do the same.

"Uh, so I just shoot them?" Santana asks nervously as she sets her bags on the floor. She points the gun to the nearest zombie and pulls the trigger. When nothing happens she looks down fearfully at her defunct rifle and then back to her cheer captain.

Quinn blinks and then turns to Brittany.

"B?"

"Yep," the taller blonde says and carefully hands her bag over to Quinn.

"Remember, just like practice," the cheer captain reminds her as she takes a step back with the bag of cats safely in her arms. She notes how calm Brittany seems; the earlier fear shown with their first zombie encounter is gone and is replaced with a rare side of the blonde that only a select few have ever had the chance of seeing.

"Just like practice," Brittany mumbles and she expertly takes her stance. Santana is watching with wide eyes as the taller blonde unlocks the safety and fires.

**BANG!**

The gunshots echo around the area as the tall blonde efficiently empties out her magazine into zombie after zombie. It's kind of unnerving, seeing the way the bullets sink in and then explode out through the back; their bodies are too decomposed and there's no muscle to keep the cartridge from staying inside.

Finally, the last zombie takes its last step and Brittany lowers her rifle.

"Uhm, I'm gonna double check to see if they're really dead dead and not just pretending to be dead," she says before making her way over to the closest one.

"You can close your mouth now, S."

"Ay Dios Mios..."

\-\

Team Finn has finally met up once again and they're all slowly making their way through Wal-Mart as they try to find things that they can use. Kurt and Puck have already informed the other two of the phone problem but there's not much they can do about it so they decide to ignore it for now.

"Hey! I wanted to buy this shirt last week, but I didn't have enough money..."

"Dude, there's so many PlayStation 3 Games and X-Box Games left. Man, too bad they cut the power."

"Noah! We do not need that in order to survive! Finn! Put that down!"

"Think anyone would care if I take this?"

There's still a surprising amount of items left in the store.

/-/

Five for sure dead dead zombies later and all three cheerleaders are now sitting on the front steps of their high school. Their guns are propped up near their bags and Quinn has been checking the time on her phone to determine when they'll need to maybe start looking for Finn and the others. They still have less than an hour before the allotted meeting time.

She has already noticed there's no reception and that the message centers are out of commission. Frankly, she's not surprised.

Quinn and Santana are sitting side by side at the top and they're watching as Brittany tries to comfort her cats on the lower steps.

"Don't let them out yet, Britt. It's for their safety," Quinn warns as she sees the other blonde start to open the bag's zipper a bit wider.

"…Okay," Brittany says sadly and leaves only enough space for one of the cats to poke their head out. She peers inside when she hears a soft meow.

"…San?"

"Yeah, Britts?"

"You didn't really like this bag, did you…?"

Santana groans as she can already imagine what the cats have done to her bag. Brittany looks at her guiltily and the brunette shakes her head before giving the taller blonde a strained smile.

"It's cool, B."

Brittany smiles and turns her attention back to her cats.

"So…" Santana starts off awkwardly.

"So…" Quinn mimics and the blonde thinks that Santana looks like she's pouting and scowling at the same time.

Santana suddenly leans in towards her team leader and lowers her voice. "Since whens the hell did B become like, _Rambo_? I mean, seriously, I can understand _you_ knowing bout guns 'cause of your inner serial killer persona you gots going on, but _Britt?_"

"...what inner serial killer persona are you talking about?" Quinn asks instead and Santana shoots her a glare.

Quinn is nonplussed but shrugs. "She sometimes tags along with Coach and I when we go to the shooting range. She was really bad at first when we started off with the targets that looked like animals, but when we switched to the regular civilian ones and explained they weren't real…" Quinn shakes her head. "She's a natural."

"And where was I?" Santana demands harshly. Brittany curiously looks up at the sound of her voice and Santana gives her another smile, waiting for the taller blonde to turn away before facing her cheer captain again.

Quinn quirks an eyebrow. "How should I know? What am I, your keeper? You were with John, or Tim or Tom or Puck or whoever else. And I _did_ invite you but you totally bailed on us last minute. Every. Single. Time."

Santana frowns as she does recall doing that but she doesn't ever remember Quinn telling her they were going to _shooting ranges_, only that they were going to 'hang out'. She's about to reply but Quinn's voice cuts her off.

"Brittany!" the blonde scolds the other girl and the taller cheerleader quickly sits up and pulls back her hand.

"But—"

"No, they're not going to want to go back in and what if they run away the next time we see a zombie?"

"…But…"

"Britt."

"…okay…"

Santana is quiet as she tries to wrap her head around the fact that Brittany, _her Brittany_, is an awesome gun-wielding genius and she realizes that she hates it. She really, _really_, hates it. Out of the three of them, Britt's supposed to be the happy-go-lucky, innocent but nice one, and Quinn's the charming yet manipulative leader. And Santana? Santana's supposed to be the muscle; the brawn that keeps everyone in line with her vicious words and sarcastic humor and sometimes violent tendencies.

But here she is, the clear rookie out of the trio and she _absolutely hates it_.

"Q," Santana turns to her leader who's still watching Brittany closely. The blonde hums in response but doesn't take her eyes off the other girl. The brunette takes a moment to swallow her pride. "Teach me."

The serious tone grabs Quinn's attention and she turns to Santana with a raised eyebrow once more.

"H-how to shoot, I mean," she clarifies in a tense voice as she tries to keep herself from demanding the other cheerleader to teach her. "I have to protect her," Santana says quietly as she looks down to Brittany and Quinn's eyes soften faintly in understanding.

"Sure, we have some time to kill anyways," the cheer captain agrees. She knows that Santana won't ask Brittany to teach her because of her weird pride issue. She smirks suddenly and there's arrogance on the blonde's face. "I'll teach you, but, what's the magic word?"

The brunette rolls her eyes but she can't stop from dropping her gaze back to the taller cheerleader sitting a few steps down. She sneers and answers easily.

"Brittany."

"...Oh my God. You are so _cheesy_, I can't even—"

/-/

As Finn and the others start their way back to McKinley, Finn thinks that his team has done exceptionally well. They have a suitcase full of random canned food and bottles of water that Rachel's wheeling behind her and he's holding around ten baseball bats in his arms along with his duffel bag. Puck has his own bag with his clothes and has also placed the flashlights, batteries, walkie talkies and boxes of ammunition they had found at the Wal-Mart inside. Unfortunately, there weren't any guns to accompany the bullets, but Kurt is carrying the few pistols Puck has 'borrowed' along with his clothes in a backpack that he had managed to find tucked away in his closet. His originally packed bag is currently on the bus with Mercedes and the others but luckily he still has plenty of outfits that hadn't made the cut earlier.

It's too bad they had to leave all those cool games behind but they really would have been useless since there's no electricity anyways (or so Rachel had claimed).

Despite that, Finn's feeling like maybe things will work out fine because earlier he had also managed to find his dad's old handgun tucked away in one of the drawers in his living room. He's going to check later to see if any of the ammo they found will fit the gun, but even just having the weapon with him gives him reassurance. It's almost as if his dad is still watching over him even after all this time.

It's true that their phones are now useless and Finn has no idea where they'll be staying, but he thinks that maybe they can just lock themselves up in someone's house and reinforce the doors and windows for the night and then they _should_ be okay for the time being. They haven't even seen that many zombies so far; maybe the whole _zombie apocalypse_ thing is one big exaggerated lie.

He's wondering how Quinn's Team is doing and there's a slight worry that maybe those three had somehow ran into trouble along the way but he remembers their initial reaction at his earlier statement so he quickly banishes the thought. Right now though, he's just feeling slightly smug, like he scored the final touchdown and just won them the big game. He can't wait to see Quinn's face when she realizes that he's the better leader.

He leads his team around the final corner and their high school is in their sights. He squints though when he notices three figures dressed in military garb and then he freezes when he sees them turn and realizes that one of them has their rifle pointed in his direction.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" he cries out loudly and the baseball bats fall from his arm as he tries to shield himself.

\-\

For the past half hour, Quinn has been teaching Santana the correct stance to take while holding her weapon and forcing her to practice until it's automatic as soon as she holds the gun up. The ammo has been safely removed to save bullets, to keep the cheerleader from shooting herself in the foot and due to Quinn's paranoia that the noise will attract more unwanted attention. And so far, so good on all accounts.

Santana is reminded too much of cheer practice the way Quinn keeps drilling her, but she takes it in stride. The cheer captain is completely serious and Santana has to take this just as seriously because it's really a do or die kind of situation they're in. She's just lucky that she actually has the chance to learn properly instead of being completely thrown in, head first.

Brittany's encouraging words are also pushing her on and she can't help but feel empowered with the feel of the cold metal in her hands.

She notices that Quinn has her attention on something behind her, so Santana turns around, still with her gun held out as she faces Finn and the others that have just arrived.

To the Cheerios' amusement, Finn suddenly shouts out in fear and then his hands are up and all those baseball bats he's carrying clank to the floor and everyone behind him stops in surprise.

Santana can't help it. She starts laughing and drops her stance and is short of falling down from the laughter. Quinn chuckles but tries to disguise it with a cough. Brittany's just glad to see the others.

"Santana?" Rachel shouts suddenly and she continues laughing even harder.

/-/

After Finn's embarrassment has faded and Santana has finally calmed down, everyone is currently gathered around the cheerleaders and their new equipment. The two football players are gushing over the rifles (Quinn has made sure to remove all the ammo and the only loaded gun is Brittany's, just in case) and Kurt is evaluating their new uniforms.

"Although, I must say," he says as he looks Santana and Brittany up and down, "the Cheerios are similar to the military in a way, so this is a sort of butch style upgrade. It's not as flattering as your cheerleading outfits but it does suit you ladies, very nicely. It's a shame they're a tad bit too long though."

Rachel's standing uncomfortably to the side because she wants to retrieve her own duffel bag from the dumpster area but Finn is ignoring her and she doesn't want to make the journey alone. It also doesn't help that there are three zombies lying in a pool of their own blood on the path leading to the back.

Quinn's also a bit away and is deciding when to interrupt the happy party because they really need to get going when she looks over and notices Rachel's trepidation. She decides to approach the singer as she watches the girl wring her hands nervously.

"Something wrong, Berry?" Quinn asks and the smaller brunette is startled at the blonde's sudden appearance beside her.

"Quinn! You shouldn't sneak up on someone like that!" Rachel berates the cheerleader who automatically rolls her eyes.

"So not what I asked," Quinn says and then she nudges the shorter girl who has turned her attention back to watching Finn. "I'm only asking because I'm bored and you look like you're about to have a conniption."

Rachel immediately turns back to the blonde and then her eyes wander over to where the dead undead zombies are.

"I need to collect my belongings that were left beside the dumpster…" she explains.

"Uh huh," Quinn nods, waiting for the brunette to continue.

"But I don't want to go by myself, and Finn won't stop looking at the shiny new toys that your team has somehow procured," she concludes and waits for the blonde's judgment. Surprisingly, Quinn merely sighs and moves over and grabs one of the rifles Puck is holding, ignoring his angry shout and reloads one of the magazines into the gun.

She starts heading to the back but stops when she realizes that Rachel isn't following. Turning around she quirks an eyebrow. "If you seriously think I'm carrying your bag for you, you have another thing coming to you, Berry."

"Ah! Uhmm…Finn! Finn!" Rachel calls over to her boyfriend who briefly looks at her over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I-I need to retrieve my belongings from the back…" she says, hoping he'll catch on.

"Okay, I'll wait right here," Finn distractedly replies and then his eyes are back looking through the sniper scope. Puck shakes his head at his oblivious friend. He would have offered to help Rachel if she had asked but since Quinn has volunteered he's content staying where he's at.

Santana gives her cheer captain a questioning look but Quinn shrugs and merely points to the back. Santana nods and then continues her conversation with Brittany and Kurt.

The blonde looks at Rachel expectantly and then the shorter brunette glares at the back of her boyfriend's head and joins Quinn and they both make their way to the dumpsters.

The walk is silent and every bit as awkward as they would expect it to be. The two aren't on friendly terms despite being in Glee together and Rachel's especially nervous with Quinn clutching a loaded gun in her hands.

Feelings are put on hold however, when they pass the prone zombies and Rachel quickly moves more to her left, coincidentally pushing her up against Quinn's side when she tries to avoid the whole perimeter around the zombies. The small brunette's gaze is glued onto the figures and she doesn't notice that she's grabbing the blonde's arm until the sight of the undead leaves her eyes.

"Oh!" she gasps when she realizes what she's done and moves to give the cheerleader back her space. Quinn can't help but laugh at Rachel's reaction and the brunette clears her throat as a distraction. "I apologize, Quinn, I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries and step into your personal bubble."

Quinn dismisses it easily and then they're quiet again and soon they're in front of the familiar dumpsters once more. Rachel is relieved to see her bag is still there (as if someone would have taken it) and she hastily grabs it. The blonde is already turning back when the smaller girl suddenly calls out to her.

"Quinn!"

Quinn about faces and curiously looks at the singer who takes a deep breath and decides to just get it over with.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

The question seems to have come seemingly from nowhere but Quinn knows Rachel has wanted to ask her this for a long time. She's just not sure why the brunette chose _now_ to ask but she decides to humor her. There's still enough daylight out and this won't take that long.

"Besides the fact that you stole my boyfriend?" Quinn asks and Rachel has the decency to look sheepish before pressing on.

"Even before that, you never seemed to like me that much," she states.

Quinn nods, because it was true. Granted, she doesn't know if she really cared that Rachel stole Finn. She had dated him to help her reputation but even after being single she was still promoted to cheer captain and then she was HBIC even without Finn's help. She actually shouldn't really care that other girl is dating her ex.

Quinn's silent as she mulls over her answer. She doesn't actually hate Rachel per se; the poor girl is just unfortunate enough to have been caught up in the blonde's plans to becoming popular. Due to her father's career, Quinn has already been to ten different schools and every single time she managed to finally find a friend, she was being transferred soon after. But in Lima, Ohio it was different because she was going to stay there for years and she had decided she was going to enjoy it to the fullest. When that small brunette with the beaming smile had introduced herself to Quinn that day, she had wanted to be her friend so badly because the blonde understood how awful it was not having friends. But she couldn't, because she was already gaining those _looks_ that would have made her a social outcast and she wasn't going to move away any time soon to not care. So instead she had shoved Rachel aside and the other kids had laughed and Santana had approached her later that day.

But she can't say this to Rachel. Can't tell her that she's so petty that the pressures of society have easily influenced her into becoming someone else, someone she's not. So Quinn gives a long suffering sigh instead and offers a compromise to the shorter girl.

"Tell you what, Berry. How bout we declare a truce?" she asks and shifts the gun so that she's carrying the sling on her left shoulder and holds out her right hand.

"A truce?" the brunette echoes, slightly confused that Quinn has dodged the question.

"Yeah," Quinn agrees. "A truce, until this is all over," she gestures around them. "Otherwise it's gonna be a painful experience if we keep butting heads all the time."

Rachel completely agrees but she's hesitant because she doesn't entirely trust the blonde. She does notice that Quinn had sounded so sure that they were going to get out of here alive. There was no 'if' in that statement, only a matter of 'when'.

"I-do you really think we'll make it?" she blurts out instead.

Quinn tilts her slightly head and looks at Rachel. "Sure, why not?" she responds with a shrug. "If there's a will, there's a way, right?" She pauses. "So, are you going to shake my hand or not, Berry?"

The shorter girl looks down at the hand extended to her and grabs it before shaking it. Quinn's hand is surprisingly rough and there are calluses that Rachel notices and she can't help but wonder what they're from.

"Truce," she declares and they let go.

"Alright, now that that's settled, let's go join the rest so we can finally get to some shelter before it gets dark."

The two start heading back to the front where the others are.

"Quinn?"

"Uh huh."

"You won't be inclined to sacrifice me to the zombies, will you?"

"…You really need to learn what this whole truce thing means, Berry."

Before Rachel can defend herself, a loud shot can be heard in the distance and the two girls look at each other in surprise before they start running to the others. Rachel almost trips when her bag slips from her shoulder and Quinn glances behind her when she hears the singer cry out. In another second she's stepping back and grabbing Rachel's duffel easily and the shorter girl looks surprised but the blonde is already moving ahead and she can do nothing else but follow.

They easily dodge the zombie landmarks and Quinn has a clear view of the group. Instead of seeing a sudden onslaught of zombies, she sees Santana being held back by Puck while Santana's screaming at Finn who looks guilty. Kurt looks scared and Brittany is cradling her cats and looks shocked.

"What happened?" the cheer captain demands when she's close enough. Everyone starts trying to explain all at once and she shakes her head because she can't make sense of their words.

"Shut up!" she shouts out and everyone stops when they hear her tone. "Kurt?"

"Uh.. well, Finn was doing something and I'm not sure what happened but—"

"I'll tells you what happened! Finnept here almost shot Britts!" Santana interrupts suddenly and she moves again to jump the football player but Puck holds her in place.

"Chill out, Lopez!"

"Finn!" Rachel gasps out and the taller boy's eyes widen as he hears the accusation in her voice.

"No! It was an accident! I-I just wanted to see the gun, and then somehow it went off! And I didn't shoot her! It missed!" he cries out and Quinn groans because she feels partly responsible for leaving them unattended.

"B?" the cheer captain turns to the other blonde who looks at her with wide eyes. "You okay?" she asks gently and looks the girl over.

"Y-yeah. I'm not hurt or anything!" Brittany clarifies as she glances over to Quinn and then to Santana. "It-it was my fault. Finn wanted to see my rifle and I must've forgotten to put back on the safety. I'm sorry."

"See? Nothing happened!" Finn waves his hands and Quinn realizes he's still holding the gun and she quickly spins to face him.

"Okay, first off: STOP MOVING." she demands and he drops his hands. "Now hand me the gun, keeping your fingers off the trigger." He places the gun flat on his palms and holds it out before Quinn takes it and switches on the safety. She then hands it back to Brittany. "Okay, I don't care if we're suddenly attacked by zombies; every single one of you that's never handled a _real_ gun before, you are banned from even touching one until I teach you all the safety protocols. And no, Puck, paintball does _not_ count. That means only Britt and I are allowed. S, I would include you but I'm afraid you'll shoot Finn."

Santana scoffs but she knows it might happen so she doesn't disagree.

"Wait—but—that's not fair! Me and my team found our own guns that we can use! That's just stupid taking away perfectly good weapons! What if—what if we're ambushed?" Finn disagrees and Quinn glares at him.

"Zombies, we can easily outrun, Finn. Even if it was an accident, if you had actually shot Brittany, and say, _accidentally _killed her, what would you have done then? What if it had been Rachel, or Kurt, or Puck?"

He pales and Brittany whimpers.

Quinn takes his silence as agreement and places all the unloaded guns into her pack. She allows Santana to hold hers but keeps the ammunition in her pocket.

"Paws off me, Puckerman," Santana snarls and he glances over to Quinn who nods before he lets go. Santana immediately goes to the taller blonde and hugs Brittany in comfort.

"You brought those baseball bats over there, so use them for the time being," the cheer captain orders and gestures to the pile on the floor.

"Bu—"

A high pitched scream, courtesy of Kurt interrupts them and they all turn.

"On second thought, I'm not sure if you'll be able to wash the zombie guts off since there's no clean water, so I'll take this as our cue to leave," Quinn declares after she makes a quick mental count of the now approaching zombie mob. There are at least fifteen sauntering towards them and they all seem to be moving with purpose.

"Okay, but where are we headed? You mentioned some type of shelter earlier, Quinn? I assume you have a specific area in mind?" Rachel questions nervously as the blonde hands her back her bag.

"Grab all your stuff together, now," Quinn orders instead. "Get to the back parking lot and go to the ISO container there. There's a barricade around that area so I doubt any of the zombies are in there."

When she realizes that no one has started moving she almost growls.

"Uh, what's an ISA container?" Finn asks as he starts to gather the bats into his arms.

"…You know that big metal cream colored rectangle thing that's in the parking lot?"

"Oh! Is that what those are called?"

"….yes, now, MOVE!"

Everyone scrambles with their bags and starts heading over to the parking lot. Quinn hangs back instead and clicks off the safety to the rifle.

"Just like practice," she mutters to herself and takes aim before firing.

The sudden sound of gunshots surprises everyone and they realize that Quinn isn't following.

"Q!" Brittany calls out to the cheer captain. "San, I'm going to help her hold them off," the taller blonde states as she starts taking off her bag to hand over to the other cheerleader.

"This is bogus! We should be shooting those things, not running away!" Puck says angrily while Finn nods in agreement.

"No offense Puck, but Q's right. Like, you guys are all amateurs and you'll just end up getting in our way and then we'll need to protect you and that'll totally be uncool. Me and Q can handle them fine, head on over to the rectangle thingy and we'll meet up with you guys after," and then the blonde is running back to join her captain with her rifle in her grip.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Kurt asks as he glances around.

"Q said to gets to that metal thing, so let's gets to that metal thing!" Santana barks out and they all grudgingly move.

\-\

Shot after shot and the zombies are collapsing bodily onto the floor. They're easily enough to kill; just like in the movies, a bullet straight through their head is enough to stop them in their tracks. The thing that bothers Quinn though, is how their movements can suddenly become unpredictable and one will be lurching forward or swaying to the side and her perfect shot will go wide. It's actually pretty annoying and she has to control her temper because her accuracy always drops whenever she's irritated; she has lost too many bets with Coach that way.

She's already regretting not having Brittany join her on the front lines as she misses again when the zombie stumbles as if it had tripped on its own feet. She narrows her eyes and re-aligns the cross hairs but before she can fire, there's another gunshot and it hits her intended target right through the left eye. Quinn glances behind her and Brittany gives her a wink before she's moving onto the next one.

"Thanks, B," Quinn says softly and she's back to concentrating on shooting.

Between the both of them, they easily make short work of the group and soon all of the zombies are laid to rest once more. Quinn reloads her gun with a fresh magazine and exhales slowly.

"Let's get out of here before even more come," she states and Brittany finishes reloading her own gun and nods.

" 'Kay."

/-/

The rest are gathered around the cream colored container and Santana is obviously worried because she keeps glancing back towards the school. She and Puck are this close to busting out their guns and running back when the two blondes finally appear in their line of vision and there's a collective sigh of relief.

"Glad to see you ladies in one piece," Kurt comments and Quinn shrugs because fifteen zombies are nothing; she's more worried when all the hidden ones that are coming from _wherever_ start showing up.

Despite Lima being a city to absolutely nowhere, the population was still around 30,000 and Quinn doesn't even want to think about how many of those people escaped and how many were infected.

"So we're here and now what?" Finn asks impatiently because he hates having to wait around. He also feels awful for almost killing Brittany and there's that issue with Quinn just walking in and somehow stealing his thunder; he would've been an awesome leader, he just knows it.

Quinn doesn't answer and instead gestures to Puck and Finn. "Since you guys are obviously so much stronger than us girls, make yourself useful and give me a boost," she says as she points to the top of the container. It's around ten feet tall. She slings her gun around her shoulder and readies herself.

The two footballer players glance at each other, shrug, and kneel down so Quinn can step on their shoulders and they easily give her a lift. She then effortlessly hoists herself onto the top and she's glad for Coach's crazy regimen for keeping her so fit.

"Okay, not everyone will be able to do that," Kurt says and Rachel agrees because she's a good few inches shorter than everyone else.

"Calm down, there's a ladder here you can use. Let me just—ah, found it," Quinn calls down right before she lowers the metal, granting everyone access.

"Uhmmmm…Berry, maybe you should go last," Quinn says as she peers over from above.

"What? Just because you don't like her, Quinn, doesn't mean you can just punish her for it!" Finn complains and Quinn's wondering if the football player had even noticed that Quinn was the one who helped escort Rachel to get her bag. She doubts it.

"Whatevers, Finnessa, no one wants to see you perv on your girlfriend, though I don't know _why _anyone would. It doesn't matter what floats your boat though, so's why don't you drag your enormously oversized body up before everyone else? Ladies first, as they say," Santana sneers and Rachel realizes that Quinn was merely looking out for her and her dangerously short skirt. She gives the blonde a small smile but the cheer captain misses it as she turns around and uses the extra height to take in their surroundings.

The parking area is enclosed by scrapped metal and various piles of cars acting as a barrier. At one point Quinn remembers them taking apart the stadium bleachers to add to the collection; the football field is inaccessible due to this. Despite the city slowly turning to hell, McKinley had still continued to operate like always, even with half of the teachers leaving and the student population dwindling as the days passed. Figgins had insisted on providing his students with a sense of 'normalcy' and had somehow convinced the army into fortifying the school so that it would be safe for attendance.

Because of the barricade though, there's only one entrance that they can access the parking lot from and that path starts at the front of the school. It works out nicely though; there's a clear view from the top of the container and it's far enough that they can snipe the zombies that appear around the corner before any can reach them.

She glances over and realizes that everyone has finally joined her and is watching her expectantly.

"Alright, if you haven't figured it out yet, this," she gestures to the container they're standing on, "is our new home."

Dubious looks are passed around and Quinn steps on over to the inconspicuous hatch located in the middle of the container. There's a large circle handle connected to it and she waves Finn and Puck over.

"Strong guys, and all that," she says and points to the handwheel.

"I got this," Finn states and he grabs the handle and twists. When it doesn't budge he takes a deep breath and his face scrunches up from the exertion and he even starts turning red but nothing happens.

He breathes heavily and steps back. "Whoa, who's the guy who closed this?"

Quinn gives him a smile. "Coach."

He tries two more times before he gives up and Puck steps in.

"Man, you are such a wuss."

He gives up after the first try.

"Okay, stop messing around and both of you work on getting that open. It's starting to get dark and you can throw your testosterone around _after_ we gets in," Santana snaps at them.

Both of them struggle and then Quinn joins them and finally it unlocks and the hatch is popped open.

"Geez, is Coach on steroids or something?" Puck complains as he wipes the sweat from his brows.

"Maybe," Quinn says distractedly as she kneels and looks down. There's a ladder that they can climb but the faint daylight doesn't reach the bottom so it's hard to tell where the floor is.

"Anybody got a flashlight?" she asks hopefully. Puck hands her one from his bag and she thanks him before turning it on and pointing it down. She follows the path of the metal ladder and it looks like it stops at about twenty five feet in. Even with the poor lighting Quinn can tell that Coach has obviously done a lot of customization inside. For one thing, the container that they're standing on is only ten feet tall but the inside is much, much deeper.

"Well, I was saying that this will be our new home," Quinn explains as she looks around to the others, "but I've never actually stepped in here—Coach has only mentioned it to me on a few occasions. I'll admit I didn't even know if it was real or not, so, good news: It is. Bad news though: I'm not sure if there's another entrance somewhere or if it's isolated, meaning there could already be some zombies crawling around in there that wandered in somehow," she pauses as she lets everything sink in.

"If that's a joke, Quinn, it isn't very funny," Rachel frowns as she looks down into the darkness.

"So, you're telling us that we might be killed if we step in there?" Finn asks angrily.

"Something like that," Quinn shrugs off the boy's anger. "There's a diesel power generator connected to the inside, and from Coach's stories she claims she's been stocking food and water and everything in there for years. There's also running water, though I'm not sure if we should be using that, and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. It's our best bet for surviving."

"Yeah, unless there are _zombies_," Santana points out to her captain.

Quinn peers down the opening and then glances up at the now waning daylight. "There's still thirty minutes, maybe less, of light left. The power generator _should_ have automatically kicked in due to the main electricity being shut off. We just need to find the light switch and checking for zombies will be easy."

"So... what's the catch?" Kurt can only ask skeptically, because it sounds almost too good to be true.

Quinn pauses as she tries to remember what Coach had told her. "Uhmm, I think the generator is hooked up to a gas line, so we don't need to worry about refueling unless something happens to that. Maintenance though, we'd need to change the oil every... few days for it to work best. Technically we don't even need to use it...We can try to find candles and some other alternative source for light. Uh, if we want running water though, we'd need to keep the generator on…Coach was complaining that Figgins wouldn't allow her to have the generator installed so close to the school because of the safety hazards, so she had to have it moved towards the back…" her voice trails off and she looks over to the area right beside the barricaded football field.

She then turns to Puck. "I'm gonna assume you know something about engines so you can handle that if we need it."

"Hells ya. Who do you think does all the repairs at home?" Puck states while looking proud. Finn looks offended that Quinn hadn't asked him, but it's not like he knew anything about power generators anyways so he can't say anything.

"Okay," Quinn agrees as she moves to lean back on her haunches. "Well, with the engine maybe it doesn't matter to have it for running water...since the water supply is already contaminated? It's why they said we had to evacuate…" she questions as she turns to look around.

"They have said _many_ things, Quinn," Rachel deadpans. "I'm not quite sure what I believe in anymore..."

"Yeah, me neither," the blonde agrees easily, because it's true. "Besides that, this is like, the ideal shelter for us."

She coughs. "So, any volunteers for finding that light switch?"

Silence.

"I'll even retract my previous statement and let you take a gun with you."


	5. I guess we're safe, for now

**Author's Notes:** **As alwaysss, the reviews, thank you for them**. I wonder if I'm making Finn too dumb. But it's not like I really like him, so it doesn't really matter, I think. He's kinda like comic relief. Because nothing's funnier than Finn/zombies! I had so much trouble writing this chapter because I forgot how to write about halfway. No, seriously, I was like what is words and then I went to sleep instead of writing. Exciting.

Finn's.. Finn is.. I don't think he's going to be any less annoying until the very end. Sorry. **There's Faberry in this chapter though! Turn back now, you hater you**. And more background to whats happening. Even I don't know what's going on so you can't ask me. Oh, uhm, I kinda have a tumblr but I don't have anything posted on there (there's like, three posts I reblogged or something. maybe one day i'll give up the link :( but if you'd like to contact me you can private msg me on here, ff. net . I might take a while to respond because i'm sooo lazy (NOO SERIOUSLY I AM!) and I apologize if my reply is like weeks later. **I also apologize that this A/N is super long. **And that eventually I will abandon this story.

But that's for another day. (don't say I didn't warn you)

/-/

It's times like this that make Quinn wonder how they would have done in those show choir competitions if no zombies had started showing up and the world wasn't ending. Because, as a club they all kind of sucked at group work; all they ever seem to do when they're together is argue. If it's not about solos, it's about song selections. If it's not about Finn being leader, then it's about who's going to flip the switch. How they ever expect to get anything done is beyond her.

Quinn's currently sitting on the edge of the container with her legs hanging off the side and she's peering through the scope of her rifle as she keeps an eye out for any zombies that appear in her sights. Daylight is drastically fading and soon it'll be too dark for her to see. She wishes she had remembered to grab a scope with night vision and makes a mental note to do so tomorrow. For now though, there's still enough light that she can still make out any lumbering figures, but she hopes that they'll decide who will go soon so that they can finally safely hide inside.

She's only half listening to the conversation behind her, but already she can tell that Santana is getting irritated and she keeps throwing out Finn's name as a suggestion. Even with her attention tuned in on the zombie that has suddenly walked into her line of fire, Quinn knows that the general consensus is that Finn _should_ be the one volunteering. With the cheer captain currently being occupied, he's the obvious choice due to him being leader of Team Finn.

Quinn, however, merely concentrates on positioning the cross hairs on the zombie's forehead. She briefly entertains the thought of pretending that the undead is _someone's_ face but thinks that's too morbid and merely banishes the thought and fires.

**Bang! **

The cheer captain lowers her gun again as soon as she notices that that was the last one for now. She glances over to Brittany to see if the other girl can take over the sniping duties so that Quinn can just _go_ and they can get this all over with. The taller blonde, however, is too busy dealing with her cats that are slowly becoming more agitated the longer they're in the bag. The constant gunshots from Quinn's rifle aren't helping at all and Santana's mood is plummeting in direct correlation to Brittany's own apprehension. Pretty soon something's going to happen and it'll most likely involve Santana, Finn, and one of them falling down the ladder.

And everyone knows who's going to take the fall.

Thankfully though, Puck finally steps in and decides that he'll go. All he needs to do is climb down, flip a switch, and check for zombies anyways. Nothing too difficult for the Puckasaurus, or so he claims.

That's Finn's cue, however, to throw in his two cents and he's saying something about not letting his best friend sacrifice himself and Quinn can't help but roll her eyes. Typical Finn: waiting until the last possible moment to do something.

At this point though, she doesn't really care who's going and merely grabs the other gun she had set aside earlier in lieu of her sniper rifle.

"Puck, or Finn, or whoever's going, here," Quinn says as she holds out the gun. "Just make sure you switch the safety off only when you're halfway down the ladder. I'd rather not have to worry about you somehow shooting us because your hands are trembling too much."

Finn steps forward and takes the gun and then he scowls at her when he finally understands what the blonde was insinuating.

"I'm not scared!" he shouts but Quinn is already back to peering through the scope and ignoring him. She can hear Santana snickering and she's sure either Rachel or Kurt is seconds away from defending the football player, so she continues her instructions.

"Kurt or whoever can shine a flashlight so that Finn can see as he climbs down," she says distractedly before she's re-aiming and firing the gun. "Don't forget to grab a flashlight too, Finn, and try not to make too much noise; they can actually hear a lot better than we think."

She doesn't bother telling them that they've been making too much noise already; the hatch to the shelter has been open the entire time they've been arguing and if there were any zombies down there they would have already been alerted. She just hopes that they're not smart enough to be lying in wait for someone to climb down and then jumping them.

At least she's not sending Finn in without a weapon.

Quinn turns back to concentrating on her gun as the others decide who will provide the light (Rachel) and then the brunette and Finn are sharing a kiss, acting almost as if he's being sent to the firing squad and Quinn can hear Santana making gagging noises in the background.

And then finally, _finally_ Finn's making his way down the ladder as Puck and Rachel and Kurt watch him from above. Santana could care less and she's standing with Brittany as they both try to calm the cats down. It's a struggle but they both manage and then everything's quiet as they wait for Finn to reach the bottom.

Looking through the scope, the area seems clear and Quinn lowers her arms and rests the gun on her lap. She glances over to the others and despite the low lighting she can see how tense their body language is. There's no sudden screaming though from below and she takes it as a good sign. Hopefully Finn will be able to find the switch in no time.

Rachel and Kurt and Puck are watching with bated breath as Finn continues to descend. The light from Rachel's flashlight lessens as he steps further in and when his foot finally reaches solid ground his figure is barely illuminated. They can see the beam as he turns on his own light and points it around the area. Rachel wants to give him encouraging words or reassure him somehow, but Quinn's earlier instructions on keeping the noise level low stops her.

Just as Quinn's about to bring the scope back to her eye level, there's a sudden shout that breaks the silence.

"**Quinn? What am I looking for again?**"

The blonde groans because if there are any zombies down there they _definitely_ know that Finn is there now.

"**QUINN?**" he shouts even louder, thinking that she can't hear him.

"Quinn—what should I tell him?" Rachel whispers frantically, because she wants to tell Finn to quiet down but is afraid that her voice will make it even worse.

The cheer captain sighs and shakes her head in annoyance. "Just answer him, Berry. If there are any zombies, well, at least your voice will be the last thing he hears before they tear him apart."

The singer pauses, because she's sure that Quinn has paid her a compliment, but she files that to the back of her mind and calls out to her boyfriend.

"Finn, you're looking for a light switch!"

"**Uhm, what does that look like?**"

"…Oh, for heaven's sake—"

"Okay, forget this, I should've just gone down there in the first place," Puck states as he grabs Brittany's gun that has been resting against their bags and shoulders the sling. He shoves Kurt aside and has one foot on the ladder when Quinn speaks up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Puck," she warns him and the mohawked boy looks at her curiously. "Knowing Finn, he'll probably shoot you because he's so nervous."

Puck scoffs and he's giving Quinn a look of disbelief.

"Finn's my bro, he wouldn't—" he cuts himself off as he's suddenly reminded of those Counter Strike marathons between the two of them. Reminded of the constant deaths because friendly fire was enabled and Finn was almost always shooting him in the back without fail.

He slowly steps back off the ladder.

"**I can't find it!**"

"I wonder if that's what the zombies will say when they go looking for his brain," Santana comments and Quinn snorts as she tries to hide her laugh.

Rachel, of course tries to defend Finn in his absence. "Santana, it is neither the time nor the place—"

"Alright, I'm going to help him," Puck decides once more and steps back onto the ladder. "Finn! I'm coming down to help you. Don't shoot me, alright?"

"**Why would I shoot you?**"

"I don't know man, but just, don't shoot me!" he reminds him and Rachel shines the light down so that he can see as he makes his way to join Finn below.

"All this stress is going to be simply horrible for my skin," Kurt comments idly as he and Rachel watch as Puck expertly climbs down.

"I think that's the least of our problems, Kurt," Rachel whispers and he shrugs.

Quinn rubs at her forehead with her right hand because she can already feel a headache developing. If today is any indication of the days to come…she's not sure how she's going to survive this zombie apocalypse, that's for sure.

"Can we go in yet?" Brittany asks as she pets Lord Tubbington and Charity from the small opening in the duffel.

"As soon as Lamesaurus and Finnept check for zombies, Britts," Santana tells her comfortingly.

"But there are no zombies in there. If there were, Finn would be dead already," the taller blonde says easily. It's true; he's being carelessly loud.

"….Quinn?" Rachel turns and shines the flashlight on the blonde who winces at the sudden brightness.

"**We found it!**" Finn's voice interrupts and light from the room below can be seen from above.

Quinn shrugs and clicks back on the safety to her rifle before slinging it on her shoulder. "More or less. Come on, there's no point in staying out here. It's too dark to see anything and those dinky flashlights barely help. Get your stuff," she orders. "And get this light out of my face, Berry."

Rachel quickly points the flashlight at their bags.

"Oh! My apologies, Quinn, I didn't mean—"

"_Whatever_. Let's just go."

\-\

After bringing the ladder on the side of the container back up (just in case the zombies somehow know how to climb) Quinn is the last of the group still outside and she closes the hatch behind her before she starts her descent. She decides to take a shortcut and holds onto the ladder with one hand while unrolling her jacket sleeve before doing the same to the other side. She then grips the sides with her hands covered by the cloth, hooks her boots on side of the ladder and slides the rest of the way down.

"Show off," Santana says as soon as Quinn's boots hit the floor but she looks impressed and the blonde gives her a smirk.

Sometimes living on base had its perks.

Everyone is standing around nervously and taking in their surroundings and they're not sure what they should be doing or if it's safe to relax and Quinn lowers her bag on the floor and gestures to Brittany.

"B, follow me," she states and the taller blonde nods and passes her bag over to Santana. Brittany then takes her gun from Puck while Quinn looks at Finn and then to the gun in his hand.

"Turn back on the safety, Finn," she reminds him and then the two blondes are stepping into the only hallway inside their new shelter.

"…Is anybody else turned on by how hot they look in uniform?" Puck asks as he watches Quinn and Brittany walk in and out of the various rooms.

"Hells ya," Santana agrees easily.

"If only they were of the _opposite_ gender."

Finn, who had tried his best not to look up Rachel's skirt as she climbed down lets out a squeak.

"…Oh god…mailmanmailman!"

"_Finn_!"

/-/

Quinn thinks the layout to their new refuge is rather simple. There's only one entrance leading inside and that's accessible solely by ladder. The ladder drops down to what Quinn has decided to call the Main Room and that's where everyone else is at right now. It's the biggest room in the shelter and there's a long wooden picnic table located in the far right corner, and a refrigerator (!) with an electric stove next to it in the far left. There are also bookshelves along the walls filled with books and magazines and a small portable TV on one of the shorter shelves.

Further in the back there's a hallway and that's where Quinn and Brittany are currently inspecting. There are two rooms on the left side and three on the right. The first room on the left is a storage room stocked to the brim with various canned foods, copious amounts of bottled water and extra supplies like light bulbs and power generator filters and other things. The room besides that is piled high with a ridiculous amount of protein powder in _buckets_ that has Quinn shaking her head and adding to her mental list of 'things that prove that Coach is crazy'. On the opposite side, the first room on the right has large cots neatly lined up and Quinn assumes that this is where they will be sleeping. The next room actually has two toilet stalls (with working running water and a vent that leads to somewhere) along with three sinks and the last room has an actual door with a lock and consists of showers reminiscent of the school locker room. Quinn is glad to know that every single room has its own individual light source.

As both blondes make their way through each room checking for danger, Quinn can't help but think that Coach has painstakingly prepared the perfect hideout for a world disaster, i.e. the current situation they are in now. She has rising suspicions but decides to keep them buried for now as her and Brittany finally make their way back to join the others.

"Okay, good news: there's no zombies. So we can all relax for now and I guess settle down and get something to eat," she informs everyone as soon as her and Brittany step back into the room.

"Yay! I can finally let Lord Tubbington and Charity out," the taller blonde says happily as she skips over to Santana. "Remember, you promised to help me clean them up, San."

Santana smiles and nods and immediately glares daggers at Quinn who smirks as she takes a seat at the table.

"Let's check out the rest of this place," Puck states and then he's making his way further into the shelter with Finn, Rachel, and Kurt following behind him.

\-\

Everyone is now gathered and seated at the only table in their little safe haven. They're all having 'dinner' which consists of a variety of canned food grabbed from the storage room as well as some that Team Finn had managed to find. Luckily, Brittany was able to locate the utensils hidden in the fridge so they didn't need to resort to eating out of the cans with their fingers.

All the girls are eating canned vegetables and fruits because they seemed to be the most normal tasting things out of the other foods. Kurt has decided on some chicken soup and the two football players were immediately drawn to their favorite childhood snack.

"I don't care what you guys say, Spaghetti-O's are _disgusting_. They're an insult to real spaghetti," Santana vehemently states as she watches Finn and Puck devour can after can of said food with gusto.

Quinn has chosen a can that has a mixed variety of vegetables but she's regretting it because there's so much more green beans than anything else and she's been too busy picking them out instead of eating. She thinks the picture on the can has lied; it had made it seem like there were _equal_ amounts of all vegetables and not just green beans with an occasional corn and carrot mixed in. She knows to pick something else to eat next time.

Rachel's nibbling on some fruit cocktail and has been watching the blonde pile green bean after green bean onto the discarded lid. It's not that she's deliberately watching Quinn; it's just that they're sitting across from each other and the shorter brunette would rather watch the blonde than watch her boyfriend stuff his face messily with fake spaghetti sauce. She's also intrigued because she never knew that Quinn was such a picky eater, but then again she doesn't know much about anyone else except for Finn and once upon a time, Puck.

Brittany is busy trying to feed her cats and is ignoring her opened can of peaches. The cats seem nervous about their new surroundings though and instead are content on exploring the area.

"Just leave them, Britts," Santana says as she eats another spoonful of corn. "They'll eat when they're ready. Here, have some corn," and she scoops some out and holds the spoon out to the other cheerleader.

Brittany frowns but nods because she knows her cats must be so confused with their situation and she can't help but worry. At least she's comforted by the fact that Lord Tubbington can only say no to food for so long.

" 'Kay," and she allows Santana to feed her.

Kurt watches their exchange and can only shake his head as he wonders when those two will finally admit their real feelings. He's unsatisfied with his selection and reminds himself to possibly look for cookware and maybe some bowls tomorrow if they go outside.

"What kind of woman would have a stove but no pots or pans whatsoever to cook with?" Kurt asks grumpily as he pushes his dinner away. He wishes it was at least hot so he could pretend they were merely camping or doing something remotely normal.

"The same woman who would build an underground bunker under the school, that's who," Puck says as he finishes his Spaghetti-O's with a belch. Everyone, minus Finn who's on his own 3rd can, looks at the mohawked boy in disgust but he ignores them and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Speaking of Crazy Coach Sylvester, what's up with you and her, Fabray?" he asks curiously as he turns to face Quinn.

Quinn, who has at last finished picking out the green beans pauses in mid bite as she realizes that she suddenly has everyone's attention. She rolls her eyes and drops her spoon into the can and glares.

"Okay, we are _not_ having this conversation again!" she angrily states.

Kurt, who can never turn down gossip even in the middle of an apocalypse, is instantly enthralled.

"Wait, what's this about you and Coach Sylvester?" he asks excitedly.

Santana smirks and leans forward. "Despite what all you chumps think, Quinn claims that they're unrelated."

"What! But—" and Puck's gesturing to everything around them. "She has to be Quinn's mom, why else would she even tell her about all this stuff? I know Coach would never _voluntarily_ give anyone this kind of info unless they were her spawn!"

"Okay, can you people stop saying that?" Quinn interrupts but they all ignore her.

"Yeah! And Coach totally had it out for me when I was dating Quinn," Finn recalls and Quinn wants to slap him upside the head because he gave people plenty of reasons for hating him, regardless if they were dating or not.

"What about when they spend lunch together 'discussing cheerleading strategies'?" Kurt comments and everyone is nodding except for the blonde. "Obviously that's the code for family bonding time!"

"I always did think that Quinn's facial bone structure is nothing like Coach Sylvester's however, but I suppose she could have inherited it from her father instead?" Rachel questions as she looks to the blonde who has her face buried in her hands.

Whether it was from exasperation or mortification, no one's quite sure.

"They sometimes have lunch too, on the weekends," Brittany informs them because she has joined Quinn and Coach on those few occasions.

"Seriously, Q, after all this, you can tell us the truth and we promise we won't think less of you," Santana says as she looks at her cheer captain with a smirk.

Quinn wants to walk away from this conversation but there's really nowhere to go and she only knows they're joking around (at her expense) because they're all trying to keep the mood light considering their current situation. She doesn't like it, but she'll let them have their laughs…for now.

"Whatever," she mutters while lifting her face from her hands. She then reaches for her spoon to finish off her dinner.

"Speaking of Coach, where is she anyways?" Finn asks suddenly as the thought occurs to him. "Considering where we're at, and everything, I would think she would be like, all gung ho and stuff about shooting zombies."

And just like that, everyone can feel the mood in the room drop significantly. Finn has obviously asked the wrong question and Rachel nudges him painfully on the side.

"Finn!" she whispers harshly and he looks confused because he doesn't understand what has happened. They were joking around about Coach and Quinn being related and then he asked—_oh_.

"Uh, I mean, uhmm—"

Quinn ignores Finn's awkward apologies and continues to eat her food as she tries to recall the last time she had seen Coach.

It had been two weeks prior. Coach had summoned her to her office, gave her a few of her usual weird anecdotes, handed her the Master Key and she hasn't seen her since.

The cheer captain polishes off the last carrot and places her utensil back into the can before she shrugs.

"No idea where Coach is," Quinn says before she stands up and excuses herself from the table.

It's kind of true too. She also doesn't know if Coach is actually still alive as well.

/-/

"Wow, way to bring the house down, Finnept," Santana says sarcastically as soon as Quinn is out of earshot.

"Could you stop calling me that already?" Finn asks as he guiltily slumps down in his seat.

"Hey, if the shoe fits," Santana says while giving him a pointed look.

"I wonder how my family is doing…" Brittany interrupts as she pets her two cats distractedly. Santana gives her a worried glance.

"How my dad is…" Kurt throws out and sighs. "Mercedes…the others…"

"My mom…my sister…if they made it to safety…" Puck wonders.

"My mom's probably super worried…" Finn adds in.

They're all quiet as they realize that maybe they will never be able to see their family and other friends ever again.

"Wow, when did I sign up to this express train to depression-ville?" Santana cuts in suddenly. "Look, our family, friends, whatever, they all left this hellhole to _get_ to safety. Britts, your family is probably fine. Remember? My parents were one of the first ones to board that bus to Indianapolis, like three weeks ago. And I've kept in contact with them and they're doing great."

She doesn't mention that she hasn't heard from them in two weeks.

"My parents too," Rachel confirms as well, but she shares a look with Santana and they both turn away. "My Daddy was—is one of the main doctors in Lima and Dad followed him when they were asking for volunteers to help transport the patients at the hospital. I'm even quite sure they were on the same vehicle as Santana's parents. There was the option of joining them but I decided to stay, because—well," her voice trails off. She had stayed for plenty of reasons. For Finn. For her not quite friends but not really enemies in Glee. Because of that little irrational part of her that couldn't believe that all these things were happening and she still had to cling onto her dream because it is all she knows.

Finn gives her a small smile and they lean in together.

"Yeah, they're probably all okay," he says softly and everyone agrees because they don't want to believe it's not true.

\-\

It's still early, barely past 10pm according to her cell phone but Quinn feels drained after today's events and she can tell that everyone else feels the same way. She knows that they should discuss what tomorrow will entail but after how everything left off at dinner, Quinn's not in the mood for talking and it seems that the others have the same sentiment and they're all kind of avoiding each other because they don't want to think about it.

A little earlier though, Rachel had asked her about what they should do about showering since the running water might be contaminated and she wanted to wash her hair to get rid of the lingering smell of trash. Quinn had handed her a bottle of water and told her to get creative with the sink until they could determine if the water is in fact infected and then the smaller brunette and Kurt were busy rigging something up.

Quinn is now in the room with all the cots and she has already changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt she had packed. Her hair is out of the Cheerio ponytail and she has it loose with a small braid on the left side. She is standing by the doorway and is trying to determine their sleeping arrangements when everyone starts trickling in, looking as exhausted as she feels.

Brittany and Santana have borrowed Quinn's extra clothes (shorts and t-shirts for both) and they are both carrying a cat in their arms. Their ponytails are also gone for the night. Finn and Puck have changed into sweats and shirts as well and the only ones who are wearing real pajamas are Kurt and Rachel. The short brunette's sleep set is pink with a colored star pattern(surprise, surprise) and the blonde notices that Rachel's hair looks slightly damp. Kurt's set on the other hand, is light blue and looks to be made from silk.

"I want to be as comfortable as I possibly can be," he explains when Santana gives him an incredulous look.

"Okay, well, there's only six beds and there's seven of us, so two people have to share," Quinn tells them as she looks around the room.

"Me and B can share," Santana says casually and Quinn nods because she already figured it would be those two who would be sharing.

"Okay, then that's settled and everyone else can get a bed—"

"Wait, but what about Lord Tubbington and Charity?" Brittany asks worriedly. "There's nowhere else for them to sleep and they're used to sleeping on beds and they're already so stressed from everything. If they can share a bed, it would totally help them get used to living here."

Everyone's quiet as they try to determine who else can bunk together.

"Well, me and Rachel can share, since we're boyfriend and girlfriend and all," Finn offers and Santana laughs.

"No offense, Frankenteen… okay I lie, I do mean offense actually, but that little bed barely even fits _you_, what makes you think you and the hobbit can both squeeze in there _together_? I mean, granted, Berry _is_ ridiculously tiny, but if you rolled over she'd probably end up as road kill because of your gigantoid back squishing her."

"Ouch," Brittany looks to Rachel sympathetically and the smaller brunette is silent because she agrees.

"Okay, I don't care who else shares with who but I'm getting my own bed and I claim this one," Quinn says as she points to the third bed, "as mine."

"I wouldn't mind Rachel sharing with me," Puck grins as he waggles his eyebrows.

"Hey man! That's my girlfriend!" Finn states angrily and Rachel places a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"Finn, Noah is merely being his usual rather obtuse self; you're his best friend, shouldn't you be familiar to these inane comments already?"

Finn pauses as he tries to understand Rachel's words and then shrugs.

"Then I suppose Rachel will be sharing a bed with me?" Kurt says disappointedly, because he'd rather be sharing a bed with Finn.

"Wait! No, why would she be sharing with you?" Finn asks, clearly confused.

"Uh, duh, Finnessa. She can't share with you in case you crush her, and she can't share with Puck in case he _man_handles her so that leaves Kurt—"

"No, I don't want Rachel to share with a _guy_ that isn't me!"

"Hello? I'm gay?" Kurt states and Finn's shaking his head.

"What about Quinn?" the football player says while gesturing to the blonde that is already settling into the cot. She has already grabbed one of the many blankets and pillows located on the shelves in the room and is in the midst of lying down when Finn interrupts her.

"How about no?" Quinn declares as she sits back up, obviously annoyed. "What part of 'getting my own bed' did you not understand?"

"Well, you're the only other girl and you're smaller than Kurt anyways, wouldn't it be better for you and Rachel to share?" Finn asks as he tries to reason with the blonde.

"Okay, how about, you sleep on the floor, and Berry gets the bed and then everyone is happy?" Quinn suggests instead as she crosses her arms across her chest.

By now, the others are passing blankets and pillows around and they're already moving to their own beds. Brittany and Santana have decided on the one closest to the doorway and have placed the cats onto the one left of Quinn. Kurt takes the one to the right of the cheer captain and Puck is next to him leaving the last bed as Finn's by default.

"Well, you're leader, and doesn't a leader look out for his or her own teammates?" Finn points out.

"This is kind of entertaining," Kurt whispers across the room over to Santana and Brittany.

"Wish I hads some popcorn," Santana replies as she moves to lie down with the taller blonde.

Quinn ignores them. "Alright. Since I'm leader, you should listen to me and I _order_ you to sleep somewhere else."

"Ooh," Puck snickers from the sidelines and at this point Rachel finally decides she has had enough.

"Quinn, do you recall the conversation we had earlier this evening?" the smaller brunette asks and the blonde narrows her eyes at her but nods. "And, I know my comment afterwards was inappropriate, but I really would like to believe that your words were sincere."

"Get to the point already, Berry," Quinn says irately because she already has an idea where this is going.

"In any other situation in which you would be entitled to share a bed with, say, Brittany, or-or even Santana, there is no doubt that you wouldn't hesitate to do so. It'll only be a temporary situation as we should be able to obtain another bed somehow later, but—"

"Arghh!" the blonde throws her hands up in the air angrily. "If I agree will you just shut up already?"

Rachel stops talking and nods in affirmation.

"Fine. _Fine._ But you better keep your hands to yourself," the blonde says before she flops back down on the bed, clearly annoyed that her words were used against her. If only she hadn't offered that truce earlier. What was she thinking?

"And get your own pillow," she throws out angrily. "I'm not sharing mine."

"…This is so hot."

"_Shut it_, Puckerman."

/-/

Time passes (Quinn's not sure how much and she's too lazy to check her phone) and despite the fatigue she felt earlier, she's now wide awake and blinking into the darkness as she listens to the others sleep. She can hear the soft, almost synchronized breathing of Santana and Brittany to her left, the low snores coming from Puck and the occasional sighs from Finn to her right. She thinks she can occasionally hear a soft purr coming from one of the cats beside her, and maybe the sound of random shifting from Kurt's silk pajamas. Rachel though, Quinn can easily hear and feel each breath as the girl sleeping right next to her methodically inhales and exhales.

None of the random sounds are what's keeping the blonde awake however. She feels restless and she's awake because she's worried.

Worried that, when they wake up in the morning and check outside, their temporary hideout will have been surrounded by zombies and they're now indefinitely trapped.

And it's her fault because she led everyone here.

Worried that, because she's leader, she now has the lives of the rest of the team in her hands. They'll be looking to her for guidance and one wrong move will easily make the difference between life and death.

And it'll be her fault because they're trusting her.

Worried that, maybe they're not going to make it after all, and really, they're just prolonging the inevitable.

And that thought scares her more than anything else.

Quinn wonders how everyone can just, pretend and somehow fall asleep so easily. Even Rachel. She had figured the other girl would be unable to sleep due to being in such close proximity to her high school tormentor. But no, her and everyone else besides the blonde is sleeping soundly.

Quinn wants to pretend too and maybe if she can sleep she'll wake up and realize that this is all merely a horrible, _horribly_ realistic dream.

But, she can't sleep, and they can't wake up.

Because they're not dreaming.

So she decides then that maybe she'll step outside for a bit. Hopefully with all the city lights out the moon will be bright enough and she'll be able to at least _see_ if the zombies are gathering outside. For her peace of mind, at least she'll know.

Just as she starts to swing her legs over and move her feet from the bed to the floor, Rachel shifts and suddenly Quinn feels arms slipping around her waist and she freezes.

"…Quinn?" the brunette mumbles sleepily and the blonde holds her breath because it's quiet in the room and she doesn't want to wake anyone.

"…you're all tense, and stuff…" Rachel whispers and Quinn wants to roll her eyes but knows it's pointless because it's too dark and no one will see. It seems that sleepy Rachel has none of the eloquence that the girl has while awake and Quinn would have maybe chuckled if they were in an entirely different situation.

She can feel Rachel fuss around even more so Quinn starts breathing again and leans in to where she thinks the other girl's ear is. "Go back to sleep, Berry," she murmurs softly, in reassurance.

It's obvious the singer is still half-asleep, because there's a soft "okay," and then Quinn can feel the gentle breathing of the girl besides her tapering off and becoming more measured and sleep-like.

Quinn waits until she knows that Rachel is in fact asleep before she gently extracts the arms around her waist and slips out of the bed carefully. She kneels down and fumbles around for her phone she had left underneath the cot and after a few tries finally finds it.

She stands and pushes the button to activate it and blinks as the screen lights up. She then uses her phone like a flashlight and shines it towards the exit. She almost drops the device though when she sees the dim light reflect off Charity's eyes and kind of gives the cat a nervous look before tip toeing out of the room.

As soon as she reaches the doorway she pauses and checks to see if the cat is following her or if anyone else has woken up. It's a tense moment, but finally, when she feels like she's in the clear she makes her way towards the Main Room where she knows the flashlights are and where the guns are placed.

She just wants to double check outside, just in case.

She doesn't want to alert the others by turning on the light so she merely continues to use her phone to navigate around the room, eventually finding the flashlight and switching to using that instead to find her gun. She notices a jacket sitting right next to the rifle and decides to grab it at the last minute. She figures it's either Brittany's or Santana's as she zips it up because her own is folded neatly on top of her Cheerios bag. She doesn't think either cheerleader will mind though.

Quinn slips the gun strap over her head and shifts the gun so that it's resting at her side before making her way over to the ladder. She gives a backwards glance over to where she knows the others are sleeping and then she holds the flashlight in her teeth and starts her way up the ladder.

She eventually reaches the top and the hatch that she had closed earlier and pauses to mentally prepare herself. She doesn't know what to expect when she opens the door, but she hopes that she won't be regretting it.

She pushes the entrance up slowly, not fully opening it and leaving a small gap instead. She then hooks her legs to one side of the ladder for more support and grabs the flashlight from her mouth and shines it outside. Quinn doesn't want to be suddenly ambushed by a random climbing zombie, so she makes sure to check all angles that she can see from the small opening before finally pushing the rest of the hatch open when she determines that it's clear.

She pulls herself out of the entrance and steps onto the container. The night is kind of chilly and Quinn is glad she has decided to grab a jacket.

The area is quiet, save for the faint whirring sound of the generator and Quinn is surprised that it's not as dark as she thought it would be. With all the electricity shut off, the light pollution is gone and she kind of wishes that it wasn't because of _this_ that she can finally see the stars clearly even from within the city limits.

If it was a different time, a different place, Quinn feels that she could sit here and appreciate the stunning night sky.

But right here, right now, all it does is remind her of where they're at and merely serves as glaring evidence that civilization, that Lima, Ohio, is reaching its ruin.

She shakes her head to dislodge herself from her contemplative state and clicks off the flashlight. The moonlight is bright enough and she waits for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before she surveys her surroundings.

To her relief, there are no mobs of zombies gathered around the container and the entire parking lot actually looks quite empty. She pauses though, when she thinks she can see movement towards the back, where she knows the generator is located and she grabs her rifle to use the scope to get a closer view.

She's surprised when she sees at least six or seven zombies just standing around the generator, almost like they were attracted to it or something. She doesn't bother shooting them though; they're just _there_ and she doesn't want to accidentally miss and end up destroying a vital part of their lifeline.

Quinn lets out a sigh because at least one of her worries is settled: this shelter is indeed safe. For the time being anyways. She lowers her gun and rests it against her side once more.

She knows she should go back in and get some sleep because there are plenty of things that they need to do tomorrow (or is it today?). Before she climbs back down though, she decides to take a moment to just, memorize this calmness that has blanketed the city. She has a feeling that things will gradually get worse from here on out and she wants to remember this sight in case she never has a chance to ever again.

As she turns around, tilting her head up to the sky, she notices that in the distance there's something else lighting up a part of the city and it _isn't_ light from the moon. They must've not noticed it earlier because it wasn't fully dark yet and they weren't looking but now that the sun has completely set and her attention is on her surroundings, Quinn can tell that there is in fact another source of light.

She stares at it, because light means that there are other survivors in the city. Quinn doesn't feel excited or happy about that though. Instead she feels dread gathering in the pit of her stomach, because the direction that the light is coming from is from the _southwest_. From the area that had been deemed as the zombie hotspot.

She doesn't know what this signifies, but she has a feeling that it's not good.

Not good at all.


	6. I guess we're still safe, for now

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, as always :)** I always notice and then quickly forget there's a reply button to the reviews, but ... I don't know what to say individually so i'll just post some of the answers/replies here (if I can that is)

hm. the dialogue isn't as funny this time and the chapters are getting longer..but longer does not equate to betterr  
>I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter actually, but at least the story is moving along (slowly). So much got edited out from the first draft though! exciting.<br>Also, I have a poll on my profile! doubly exciting. double mint gum.

/-/

As Quinn is pulled from her dream by her usual 6:00am phone alarm, she can feel something prickling in her eyes as a memory disappears into the back of her mind. She quickly brings up her right arm and swipes at them, efficiently wiping away the evidence because Fabrays _don't_ cry and Fabrays _don't_ reminiscence, especially not about people who are possibly already dead.

Her phone continues to blare out music and she can hear it vibrating on the floor. She moves to get out of bed but there's a something holding her back and it takes her a moment to remember where she is, why's it so dark, and who's weighing her down.

"Ughh, turn that thing off," Santana groans to her left and Quinn can hear the others start to move around.

Quinn attempts to pry Rachel off her but the brunette is holding fast so she swings her free arm down and blindly struggles to find the phone. After a few tries she finally locates it and pushes the button and then the room is basked in silence.

"What time is it?" Kurt asks sleepily.

"Six," Quinn responds in a raspy voice. She always sounded like this in the mornings for some reason.

"….fivemoreminutes," Rachel murmurs out as she grips onto Quinn even tighter.

"…ten..." Brittany tells her before the room is quiet once more.

Quinn had fallen asleep close to 3am so she concedes and barely manages to reset her alarm to 8am before settling back down and closing her eyes.

\-\

It's now 9am and after an awkward awakening with Rachel realizing she had drooled on Quinn's shoulder, everyone is finally done with their morning routine (resourcefully using bottles of water to brush their teeth and wash their faces) and they're once again gathered in the Main Room and eating their first meal of the day. They're all dressed in their typical clothes and the cheerleaders are in their new uniforms with their normal Cheerio issued ponytails pulled back.

"I hope we can find something else to eat," Kurt mentions as he pokes at his pineapples in disinterest.

"Noodles, maybe," Rachel offers before she takes a bite of corn.

"I love those instant ones," Finn says as he cheerfully eats his ravioli. "They have different flavors too."

"Man, I don't think I can survive without real meat," Puck complains as he pops open another can of Spaghetti-O's.

Santana looks disgustedly at him before she opens her own can of fruit cocktail. "What I don't gets is how you can still eat that after inhaling like, five cans yesterday."

"Yay! Lord Tubbington is eating!" Brittany claps happily from the floor as she watches her larger cat eat. "See, Charity? You be a good girl and eat too, just like Lord Tubbington," the taller blonde says as she pets the smaller cat.

Santana gives her a fond smile that everyone notices but ignores.

Quinn yawns into her meal. She has accidentally grabbed the same can of the same variety mix she had eaten yesterday but is too lazy to go back to exchange it so she's now busy picking out green beans once more. She yawns again and Rachel looks over to her from across the table.

"I'm sorry Quinn, did I by chance keep you awake last night? I don't know if I move around much while I sleep due to the fact that I've never had the opportunity of sharing a bed with anyone, really. Any prior knowledge of me doing so is entirely lacking on my behalf so I apologize if it was my fault that you seem to be rather tired," she says apologetically and Quinn shakes her head before stifling another yawn.

"Y'know, I don't blame Q though. I mean, if I hads to share a bed with a hobbit I'd be too afraid of her somehow stealing my soul as I slept," Santana remarks and Brittany quickly looks over to Rachel.

"You totally shouldn't do that, Rachel. No one can survive without a soul," she scolds her and Rachel shoots a frown to Santana who gives her a smile.

Quinn rolls her eyes because she feels like it's too early to deal with Santana's sarcasm and clears her throat to interrupt the impromptu insult festival.

"No, Berry, I just had some trouble sleeping and it wasn't because of you," she clarifies and Rachel looks relieved before she continues to eat her food. "So, any ideas on what we should do today?" the blonde asks as she looks around the table.

Kurt taps his chin with his finger and glances over to one of the cats. "Do you think there are other people here? Ones that couldn't bear to leave their pets, kind of like what Brittany did?"

Quinn is suddenly reminded of the lights she saw last night(this morning), but she doesn't know if she should mention it. She decides not to, not yet anyways because she doesn't want to scare everyone even more.

"That's a good point, Kurt," Rachel agrees as she finishes off her corn. "I don't doubt that there are other people here. Having a bigger group will certainly increase our probability of survival."

"Not exactly," Finn answers her in between bites. "In those games, usually the more people you have the more chances you have of someone messing up and more people end up dying."

Brittany looks worriedly over to Santana who reaches across the table and smacks Finn on top of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"No one asked for your opinion, Finnept," Santana sneers out angrily and moves over to sit next to Brittany on the floor.

"Okay, so, I guess we'll look for survivors then, and probably more supplies," Quinn quickly cuts in. "I think we should get some solar lights we can place around inside the shelter. It's really dark in here and they're not too bright so they could be good night lights. We can just take them out during the day, charge them, and use them at night," Quinn suggests and everyone nods.

"We can also get another bed for Rachel," Finn remembers and he gives Rachel a smile. The smaller brunette smiles in return but she can't shake the slight feeling of disappointment because for some reason she slept really well lying next to Quinn. She even had trouble waking up this morning, which was rare.

"Oh! Some pots and pans would be nice," Kurt adds in because he doesn't want to eat another cold meal.

"I know the perfect place we can go that'll probably have everything," Quinn says as she finally takes her first bite of breakfast. "The mall. Higher chance of running into other people too, since it's such a huge landmark and it's one of the larger areas unblocked by the barricades."

Finn smacks his forehead with his hand. "Oh man, why didn't I think of that?"

"Careful there, Finnonence. You hit your head one too many times and you'll end up destroying all ten of those brain cells you have up there. You're probably down to what? Your last two or three now?" Santana asks him curiously.

The football player scowls at her while Rachel glares and Puck snickers from the side.

"After we're done eating, we'll head on over to the school and grab more weapons and ammo," Quinn interrupts, efficiently stopping the upcoming argument. "Britt and I will teach you all the basics and everything and then we'll go to mall."

There's agreement all around and the rest of the meal is finished in silence as they prepare to leave.

/-/

"Oh my goodness, I may have to bleach my eyes," Kurt proclaims as soon as he opens one of the cabinets.

"What is—Oh," Rachel says as she peers inside. "That's…a lot of tracksuits."

"Add this collection to your argyle Rachel, and the world may implode," he jokes as he closes the door.

"Hey, that's a pretty good idea," Santana agrees. "We should head over to Berry's house, grab her wardrobe and then grab Coach's and throw them at the zombies. Instant re-death right there."

"I am offended that you would even compare my sophisticated style of dress to that of Coach Sylvester's! While hers is very unoriginal as well as monotonous, my own clothes—"

"Blah blah blah, Berry. That's all I'm hearing," Santana says as she rolls her eyes.

"What would you even call your style of dress, Rachel?" Brittany asks as she tilts her head to observe the smaller brunette.

"Disgusting," Santana answers almost instantly.

"Finn!" Rachel turns to her boyfriend who's busy drooling over the many guns.

He jumps at the sound of her voice. "What? What? I wasn't doing anything wrong!"

Quinn sighs as she suddenly has the urge to ram her head through the wall.

Puck merely continues to ignore everyone around him.

After breakfast they had all emptied out their duffel bags and backpacks (just in case they wouldn't be able to find any in the mall) to make room for possible new supplies and then Quinn was leading them on over to the back door of the school. Access was simple and easy as she merely used the key and the building was quiet as it had remained untouched.

When they had climbed out of the container though (after checking if it was safe) Quinn had noticed that there were more zombies gathered around the generator than were there last night.

"What do you suppose they're doing?" Rachel had asked nervously as she graciously accepted Puck's hand while he helped her off the ladder.

"No idea," was Quinn's reply and they all stood there for a few minutes just watching the mob amble around.

"Maybe they're attracted to the sound," Brittany suggested.

"Probably," Santana agreed.

"So, what should we do then?" Finn wondered and then Quinn was closing the hatch and locking it, safely keeping the cats and their own supplies hidden inside.

"Let's just ignore them for now," the blonde stated as she started lowering the ladder on the side. "They're not after us and if we try to shoot them we might hit the generator anyways."

"Creepy," Puck had added in.

And then they were all slowly climbing down while trying to be as discreet as possible before starting to make their way to the school. Quinn had noticed that a few undead, the ones furthest from the generator, had twitched and started turning around almost immediately as if it had sensed them.

But, they could deal with that later and then they were inside and picking out their weapons.

Kurt and Rachel had simply opted for the same gun as Santana and Puck had decided on the same one that Brittany had. Finn had wanted one similar to Quinn's because he really liked the sniper scope and she had rolled her eyes but picked out a related model to her own and gave it to him. The blonde had also remembered to grab a scope with night vision and switched it out with her regular one. Everyone was also given an extra handgun to serve as backup just in case and those were placed into their bags.

"Do you think Coach Sylvester would mind if I took one of her many military uniforms?" Rachel asks when she notices the row of uniforms behind another door.

Quinn looks up from where she's teaching Puck and Finn how to reload the gun and gives the smaller brunette an appraising look.

"I don't think you'll be able to fit them actually," the blonde tells her before turning back to the task at hand and missing Rachel's disappointed pout.

"Too bad, Berry. 'Cause that totes would have been an improvement on your part," Santana says regretfully. "Maybe if you wore those clothes I wouldn't feel the need to gouge out my eyes every time I see you."

"I don't know, I kind of like her unicorn sweater," Brittany states before she reaches over to her gun and gestures to Kurt and Rachel. "I'm supposed to be teaching you guys how to use this though, so come over here."

"I find myself rather disturbed that you know how to use a gun, Brittany," Kurt says as he walks over to stand next to the blonde. He knows he has said the wrong thing when Santana glares at him and he quickly moves and places Rachel in between them, effectively using her as a shield.

Brittany however just shrugs. "I get it that people think I'm dumb and stuff, but you don't need to be book smart to use a gun; you just have to be a different kind of smart. Coach taught me that."

Quinn gives the other blonde a proud smile before continuing to show Puck and Finn the correct way to hold the gun.

"You're not dumb, Britts, you're just… eclectic," Santana says in her defense and Brittany grins.

"I could totally be an eclectic guitar," she agrees and no one has the heart to tell her that she's wrong, but very close.

"Anyways, Kurt, Rachel, you guys have to pay attention now," Brittany says seriously and they watch with rapt interest as she explains all the important things they need to know about rifles.

Quinn has them practice how to reload, how to switch from the different shooting modes (for the ones with the M4 who had the option of the 3-bullet burst mode) as well as switching on the safety. She has them memorize the correct way to hold the rifle because she doesn't want to deal with any possible shoulder injuries and when she finally feels satisfied that they've learned all they needed, a good hour and a half has already passed.

They quickly break for a small lunch and then they're heading towards the mall with guns ready and their bags on hand.

"All this practice and stuff is nothing like the real thing though," Quinn tells them as they walk. "There's gonna be a slight kick when you fire and it might take a while to get used to and it'll definitely throw off your aim."

"You'll get better though, the more you shoot," Brittany helps explain. "Not as good as me though, but maybe you'll become as good as Q with practice."

Santana smirks over to the shorter blonde who shrugs because she agrees that Brittany is a better shot than her. Not that she likes it but she accepts it; it's been proven to her over and over again, after all.

"It's rather quiet," Rachel notes as she apprehensively grips her rifle. She doesn't know how she feels about using it, but having it at least gives her a small amount of comfort.

Quinn starts examining the area more closely. "Was it like this when you walked this way yesterday?"

"We only saw like one zombie yesterday," Finn recalls as he uses his scope and magnifies it on random objects. Like the tree over there.

"Me and Kurt didn't see anything at all," Puck tells them as he walks while holding the gun in ready position.

"We stayed by the school and only saw the ones there so I don't know how the rest of the city is," Quinn comments absently as she continues to look around.

Santana unconsciously steps closer to Brittany. "Should we be worried?"

"Maybe. Just, keep an eye out," the blonde orders and they continue to make their way to the mall.

\-\

The rest of the journey is suspiciously zombie-free and by the time they reach the entrance of the shopping area, Quinn's feeling like something seems out of place.

"Well, that was thankfully uneventful," Rachel comments as she finally lowers her gun and wipes her sweaty hands on her skirt.

"Anybody else got this weird vibe going on?" Santana asks, surveying their surroundings warily.

"Yeah," Brittany agrees as she double checks to make sure her gun is fully loaded. "Like when we're standing in front of the toaster and we know the bread's gonna pop out but we don't know when kind of feeling."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Brittany," Kurt commends her as he removes his handkerchief from his pocket and dabs at his forehead before placing it back.

"Alright, so we gonna stand out here and wait for something to happen?" Puck asks and he also can't help but check his gun.

"I think we're still okay for now," Finn tells them as he zooms in and tries to see if he can see anything through the glass doors. "Everything looks clear, so shouldn't we like, use this opportunity to get stuff before it gets worse later on or something?"

"Q?" Santana turns to the cheer captain who's chewing nervously on her lower lip.

Quinn doesn't like it but there's no use standing around wasting daylight. At least if they're inside the mall there are plenty of areas to hide and snipe from. Though that meant that there were equally as many places for the zombies to hide in as well, but...

"Let's go in and check the place out. See how it is and stuff," the blonde says finally.

Everyone nods and even Quinn can't help but reach for her gun, holding it close so that it'll be ready in a moment's notice.

/-/

Puck leads them to one of the side doors and is about to break it open when he already notices the lock has been jimmied. Quinn stares at it before ushering them to continue and then they're all stepping inside.

What used to be their usual hangout on the weekends is now a darkened, desolate place and their footsteps echo all around the empty area as they gather around the entrance.

"Everything seems okay?" Finn says as they all uneasily glance and take in their surroundings.

There's still light coming in from the front glass windows but the further they go they'll definitely need to use their flashlights. For once, Quinn's glad about Rachel's OCD and her reminders for them to pack _everything_, just in case.

Quinn lowers her gun and notices Brittany and Puck do the same.

"This place is what I'd imagine Berry's house to be like: creepy, dark and empty," Santana observes humorlessly.

"Santana! You don't eve—"

"Shh!" Quinn looks pointedly at their direction and they all pause, listening as their echoes quiet down and the mall is engulfed in silence once more.

"Okay," the blonde says quietly after a beat. "Let's quickly get this over with. I think it'll be better if we split up; less people means less noise. We'll also be able to cover more ground that way. Puck, you packed the walkie-talkies right?"

"Yup," he replies and places his bag on the floor before searching inside. "They're already loaded with batteries and everything," he says as he pulls four of them out.

"Okay. So each team will carry at least one walkie-talkie. I guess we'll use channel 15, or something," Quinn tells them (she only vaguely remembers the correct channels to use). "Try not to wander too far so the radios can stay in range and if something happens, use the radio or if all else fails, use your gun to signal the others; the sounds should echo pretty easily because this place is so empty. Just in case we can't contact each other though, meet back here in two hours, whether you find anyone or not. That should also be enough time to grab supplies as well. _Do not be late_. If you're not here in two hours we'll assume the worst and—well." She doesn't finish her sentence but the others know what she's implying. "Use your phones to keep track of time. We'll need to definitely find some watches to synchronize for future use."

Everyone agrees and then glances are exchanged as they try to determine who will be paired off.

"Well, Finn and I—"

"Actually Rachel, do you think maybe you and Quinn or someone else can pair up?" Finn interrupts and the smaller brunette gives him a confused look. "Me and Puck can handle getting the extra bed too. Just, you know, maybe you'd rather hang out with uhm, one of the girls since you seemed so bored yesterday?" he explains to her.

"B-But Finn, wouldn't it be safer for—"

Finn looks over to the cheerleaders who are looking at him expectantly and he gulps nervously. "No, obviously you girls can easily take care of yourselves." He points to their rifles as an example. "See? We definitely wouldn't have these without Quinn and them."

It's obvious that Finn has his reasons for not having Rachel tag along and the singer is doubtful but she complies.

Puck throws her an almost apologetic glance because he kind of sort of agrees with Finn that Rachel's a kill-joy but he still feels bad for ditching her.

Not enough to say anything though.

"Thanks! I knew you'd understand," Finn says as he leans down to kiss her lips. At the last second she turns and he ends up pecking her on the cheek instead. He gives her a puzzled expression but she just nods to him.

"You should get going, Finn, two hours isn't a lot of time," and then she moves to stand besides the cheer captain.

"Uh, okay," he says, unsure, and after Puck hands Quinn the other three walkie-talkies and they make sure they all work, the two football players click on their flashlights and start their way into the mall.

Before they can disappear further in, Kurt suddenly decides to join them. Rachel is definitely offended when Finn allows him to follow and not her and Kurt merely gives her a look that's a cross between pity and smugness before all three are walking away.

"San, I want to look for some pet supplies for Lord Tubbington and Charity," Brittany says as she pulls on Santana's hand.

"Yup, hear that Q, we gotta get some cat stuff and I know you've gotta go gets your lights or whatever so we'll catch you later," Santana responds quickly because she doesn't want to be in the same group as Rachel.

"Wait, Berry, give your phone to Santana," Quinn orders as she hands the other cheerleader a walkie-talkie. The singer wants to protest but one look from the blonde and she's handing it over.

"Be careful, alright?" the cheer captain tells them and they nod and then their flashlights are on and they head in the opposite direction as Finn and his team.

Quinn and Rachel both glance at each other awkwardly before looking away. The blonde then places both the walkie-talkies into her jacket pocket and grabs her flashlight while the smaller brunette does the same.

"So, any place you'd prefer to go to, Berry?" she whispers as she looks around cautiously.

Rachel looks surprised at the question and shakes her head.

"No, other than the extra bed, I have no real desire to participate in these random acts of larceny," she states and notices Quinn quirking an eyebrow at her. "N-not that we're not entitled to utilize our surroundings to the fullest in order to aid in our survival, it's just …" she trails off when she realizes that Quinn's still staring and she's rambling.

"No, not really," she quickly amends her answer and Quinn nods before rolling her eyes. "What about you, Quinn? We can head on over to wherever you'd like."

The blonde considers for a moment before responding. "I was just thinking about heading over to one of the department stores for those solar lights," she says as she adjusts the straps to her backpack.

"Oh, that's a great idea, Quinn! We should be able to find cookware as well in those stores. Watches as well! Two birds with one stone, as they say," Rachel agrees almost immediately.

"Yup, that's the plan," Quinn says as they both start walking to their destination, flashlights in hand. "From here on out, Berry, no more talking unless it's important."

The singer nods and their conversation falls quiet as they continue their careful walk through the mall.

"Quinn?"

Quinn sighs and shoots Rachel a glare. It figures the silence wouldn't last long. The mall seems deserted so far however, so she signals for her to continue her question.

"Do you think, perhaps you'll be able to call me by my first name?"

Quinn glances over and she can barely make out the shy look the brunette gives her.

"I-I mean, well, the truce, and everything, and I just think it would be much more of an agreeable experience if we drop the formalities. Though I don't think Santana would be so keen on the idea… but uhm, well actually, nevermind. Berry is in fact my last name and it is a comparable step up from RuPaul or Treasure Trail—"

"_Berry_."

"Okay, shutting up now. My lips are sealed. Not another wor—"

"_Rachel_."

Hearing her name said out loud effectively stops the brunette's blabbering and she looks over to Quinn in astonishment before giving her a full beaming, bright smile.

The blonde merely gives her a nod because she's just glad that Rachel has finally shut up.

"No more talking," she orders and they continue on their way.

\-\

"Hey man, are you sure we should be doing this?" Finn asks as he glances nervously back towards the mall.

Him, Puck and Kurt have decided to leave after finding out that most of the contents in the video game store are gone. It almost looked like someone had gotten there before them (!) but they hadn't run into anyone so they couldn't be sure. There were other stores there that they could browse through but none of them had what they wanted so they're now heading over to the Wal-Mart they had visited yesterday.

"Dude, there's a better selection over there anyways," Puck tells him and Finn can't help but agree.

"But we'll be out of range for the walkie-talkies and we're supposed to be looking for other people," Kurt tries to talk them out it but Puck shrugs.

"If we're far enough even in the mall there's no guarantee that they'll work either, so there's no difference. And other people? That place seemed pretty dead to me. Whoever was there earlier is probably long gone by now. We'll have a better chance finding people out on the streets. As long as we get back before the time limit they won't know we left! Plus," and the mohawked boy turns to his best friend. "There's that Military Surplus along the way. We can probably find an extra bed for Rachel there and you could get her some military clothes that'll fit. She can't stay mad at you if you bring her those, man. Didn't you see how disappointed she looked when Quinn told her she couldn't fit Coach's uniform?"

Finn looks at him in confusion. "Wait, but, I thought you said she wasn't angry at me?"

Puck shakes his head but doesn't answer and continues to lead the way.

/-/

Santana points the flashlight around the store and watches patiently as Brittany throws toy after toy, can after can, _thing_ after _thing_ into their bags (Santana had borrowed Quinn's duffel and the blonde had settled for the extra backpack). By the time they leave here most of the store will be gone and carried on their shoulders.

But, she doesn't mind though, because Brittany's happy.

And a happy Brittany equals a happy Santana.

\-\

Rachel and Quinn quietly exit the store through the gate the blonde had picked open and they both step back into the mall.

Despite most of the stores closing about a week ago, their inventory is surprisingly well-stocked and they have managed to check off the small list of things that Quinn had compiled earlier. There are a few extra items thrown in as well and they figured they can just come back later to get more if they need to. They hadn't seen anyone at all but at least they managed to get some new supplies.

Quinn shifts the now heavy backpack to a better position and Rachel does the same as she switches her duffel bag to her left shoulder. The blonde can hear as the smaller girl continues to move the bag around but it's obvious that Rachel's having trouble because it's uncomfortably fitting on her small frame.

Quinn sighs and takes off her backpack. "Here, let's trade," she says as she offers Rachel her bag. The smaller girl squints at her and Quinn shines the flashlight at the bag.

"It'll be easier for me to hold yours since I'm taller and it's not like I'm offering to carry everything either; the backpack is equally as heavy but it'll just fit on you better, okay?" she explains exasperatedly and Rachel is hesitant but accepts the proposal.

They switch off and the backpack is in fact better for her. She doesn't have to worry about tripping over her own feet because of the duffel smacking into her legs. Rachel's bag is easily carried on Quinn's shoulders and the extra weight doesn't even seem to bother her at all. The singer is kind of annoyed at her own small stature because it's not like the cheer captain is _that_ much taller but it still seems to make a world of difference between their strengths however.

Before Quinn can tell Rachel to stop staring and start walking, a sudden noise echoes through the quiet mall and cuts her off.

They hear the screams first.

And then the gunshots right after.

/-/

"S! B! Finn! Whoever! Answer me!" Quinn says anxiously as her and Rachel continue to run towards the sounds. The layout of the mall seems so different when there are no lights and everything is closed and it's intense because they feel like at any moment they're going to stumble into a zombie because they can't see.

There's no response on the radios and the blonde is about to call for them again when they hear static and then Brittany's voice comes through.

"_Q! Q, there's like some people here—_"

"_Oh god! They're eating th—_" Santana's voice interrupts and then the walkie-talkies break off and Quinn and Rachel can only hear themselves breathing and the gunshots echoing through the building.

"Santana! Brittany! What's happening?" Quinn yells out to them. "At least tell me where you're at!"

They continue their aimless run because the shots seem to come from _everywhere_ as they wait for a response and then Brittany's voice is cutting in and out.

"_We're…th…fountain._"

Quinn quickly points the light around to determine their location and she feels relief when she spots the Old Navy sign, immediately drawing up the map of the mall out in her head.

"Come on, Berry!" the blonde tells her and they both turn around and scramble towards the direction of the water fountain.

\-\

"Hey, do you think Rachel will like this?" Finn asks as he holds up a jacket that has a similar pattern to the uniforms the cheerleaders are wearing. He had also grabbed another coat earlier that has a more gray style pattern and they both seem to be Rachel's size.

"Hmm, knowing Rachel she'll appreciate the matching styles more," Kurt determines easily and then he continues to browse through the clothes racks. "I can see why some of these were donated," he says disgustedly as he pushes away a tacky shirt.

"Dude, check these out! I found some awesome belts that we can use to carry our handguns in!" Puck shouts out to them from the back and Finn moves to go see.

"Ugh, some of these can join the same pile as Coach Sylvester's tracksuits and Rachel's entire wardrobe. Combine them all and the world will _definitely_ implode," Kurt sighs as pushes away shirt after shirt.

"Ooh. This one looks promising though!"

/-/

Halfway to the fountain and Quinn has lead Rachel up the stationary escalators and up to the 2nd floor in order to view their surroundings better. They have also abandoned their bags in exchange for speed because right now getting to Santana and Brittany is their top priority.

The entire time Quinn has been trying to establish contact with Finn and his team but there's no answer and there's no response from the cheerleaders as well which merely spurs them on faster. They can still hear the gunshots though, so Quinn knows that the two are still okay, for now.

They're getting closer and in the distance they can see the area lit up by the sunlight streaming in from the glass dome roof. They quicken their pace, finally reaching the part that overlooks the fountain and Quinn immediately scans the area for her friends. She spots them a good distance away from a zombie horde that looks to be surrounding something right by the water.

"S! B!" she calls out over to them and the two cheerleaders stop firing briefly to look up at their cheer captain. None of the undead even bothers twitching in their direction; they're too fixated on whatever they're after.

"Quinn! _Quinn_! There's _people_ in there! In that mass!" Rachel tells her and the blonde quickly looks over and sure enough, there are people inside.

Or, there were people actually.

Because all Quinn can see is a jumble of zombies biting and ripping at something and there's _horrible_ screaming coming from within as hands, arms, legs try to get away.

"We have to help them!" Rachel says desperately as she tries to remember how to switch off the safety to her rifle.

Quinn watches for a moment longer before she places a hand on Rachel's arm, immediately stopping her frantic attempts. She then reaches for her walkie-talkie and pushes the talk button.

"San. Britt, get out of there and get up here, now," she orders them and Rachel's looking at her in anger.

"_What_ are you doing, Quinn? We need to help them—they're—the _zombies_—they're—"

Quinn makes sure that the other two are safely moving away before she turns back to Rachel. The blonde's face is blank and the lack of emotion catches the brunette off guard.

"_Quinn_," Rachel chokes out and the cheer captain shakes her head sadly because they both know it's already too late.

The screaming has already stopped.

The singer grips at her weapon in frustration and Quinn stares at her, unsure if she should offer the smaller girl comfort.

The moment passes and before she can decide, Santana's voice is drawing their attention and they turn to face the two cheerleaders.

"Q," Santana says softly and both her and the taller blonde are pale and ashen and obviously _not okay_. They're both breathing hard and holding onto their bags as if it was their only salvation.

"What happened? Are you guys hurt?" Quinn asks as she worriedly looks them over.

They both shake their heads and the blonde doesn't want to feel the relief after knowing that _those_ people over there are dead, but she can't help it; she's thankful that her friends are safe.

She glances over to the mob with worry. It seems to be growing but the zombies are still ignoring the girls above them.

For now.

"What happened?" she repeats gently as she looks between Santana and Brittany for answers.

Brittany continues to shake her head while Santana remains quiet as she tries to find the words.

How do you explain to someone that you just saw a group of people slaughtered right in front of you?

"We—they—" Santana breaks off as she struggles to keep her voice calm. Brittany immediately reaches for her hand and she takes a deep breath because she knows she has to be strong. Strong enough for the both of them.

Santana tries once again and this time she succeeds and her voice is steady. "We were heading over to the music store you know, since Finn and Puck—Wait, where are they?"

Quinn doesn't respond because she doesn't know and Rachel grasps her gun tighter.

They try not to think what might have happened as Santana continues her story.

"And then we hear something, and go check it out—'cause, you know—Britts and I could totes hear them from inside the store—and then there was so much screaming—and the _blood_—they were _tearing_ them apart. We tried to help, but—_so_ many of them and we were shooting but they just kept coming and then—then you guys showed up…" she finishes off with a whisper and Brittany's silently crying as she leans into Santana.

Quinn nods and swallows hard. "Okay," she breathes out softly because, what else can she say to something that?

'Good job, you tried your best?'

Yeah, no.

"Where the hell is Finn," she mutters out instead.

\-\

They remain there in their spots staring transfixed as the mob below them continues to grow as more and more enter through the broken glass doors. Quinn knows they should leave soon because it's obvious their numbers are increasing but there's something so disturbing about the sight that she can't turn her eyes away.

"Q?" Santana whispers to her cheer captain because she doesn't want to be there any longer and Quinn is the only one not moving.

The blonde doesn't respond and instead grabs her gun and immediately uses the scope to zoom in. She can feel her insides churning at the bright red but she knows there's something important here she needs to figure out—so she ignores it and continues to survey the area.

"Q?" Brittany tries this time and it isn't until she places a gentle hand on Quinn's arm that the cheer captain finally lowers her gun.

She takes in a shaky breath and exhales slowly.

"They're—attracted to the blood," she tells them quietly.

/-/

As Finn and Puck and Kurt make their way back to the mall they're feeling immensely satisfied. All three are now dressed in the same type of military uniform that the cheerleaders are wearing and Finn has a set packed in his bag for Rachel as well.

Their bags are stuffed with even more canned food and some instant ramen and they have grabbed the video game consoles and the games they had left behind yesterday. Hooked around their waists are also utility belts that Puck had discovered buried beneath a pile of socks and they have already placed their handguns safely inside.

Finn has also managed to dig up a cot for Rachel although he was disappointed to find out it was slightly broken. He had grabbed it anyways because he had promised her he would. If anything, he and Rachel can trade off but he hopes not because the new bed is smaller than the ones in the shelter.

When they finally reach the entrance, the sudden sound of Quinn's voice calling to them interrupts their musings and Puck grabs the walkie-talkie from his belt.

"Puckerman here, over."

***Static***

"_Where the hell have you guys been?_"

"Wow, chill out Fabray, we just took a slight detour; no need to get your panties in a twist," Puck responds easily.

"_Shut the hell up, Puckerman_. _I'm really not in the mood to deal with your bulls_—"

"_S! Giv—"_

"_Finn! Are you alright? I—"_

"_Rachel! Give me that!"_

**_*_****Static***

"_Listen, I'm gonna assume you guys definitely weren't at the mall otherwise you would have at least heard something—but it doesn't matter, we're leaving ASAP. Where are you now? Over."_

"We're outside, by the entrance. Over," Puck answers as he looks over to Finn and Kurt in confusion.

"_Stay there, we'll be out soon. Keep a lookout. Over."_

**_*_****Static***

All three boys look at each other worriedly because it's obvious that something went down while they were gone.

\-\

Everyone's on high alert as they walk back towards the school. Quinn's voice is quiet as she explains what they saw at the mall and what they found out.

When she's done no one knows what to say and Finn feels guilty because he hadn't been there for Rachel when she needed him and he holds onto her tighter.

They decide to call it a day because no one's really up for anything else. When they finally reach the shelter, Quinn notices that there's even more zombies by the generator now and as soon as they step into view, a few zombies break off from the mob and start heading towards them.

Santana's obviously still upset because she's the first one to bring up her gun and the first one to click off the safety. The only thing stopping her from pulling the trigger is Brittany's hand on her arm and Quinn's voice.

"S, stop. At least wait until they move further away from the generator first," the blonde tells her and Santana wants to just rush in there and shoot them all but she clenches her teeth instead and waits.

Everyone else also grab their guns but they hold back because they know that Santana needs this. Quinn merely turns and makes sure that there are no new zombies coming from the school.

As soon as she can, Santana fires at the closest zombie and watches in satisfaction as it crumbles to the ground. Nothing will bring those people back and she'll still have nightmares days from now, but for the moment she almost feels like she's getting retribution.

Or so she wants to pretend.

The gunshots bring in the other zombies that were content by the generator and Quinn watches as they all start walking towards them. She notes that the ones here are nothing like the ones at the mall; those hadn't even flinched when they were being shot at. All they saw or smelled or _whatever_, was the blood and Quinn saves this tidbit of information for later.

When Santana finally runs out of bullets and she's just pressing on the trigger despite the empty clicks, Finn and Puck and Brittany and even Rachel join in and they make short work of the rest of the mob. Kurt's still hesitant about having to shoot but Quinn knows he'll eventually have to get his hands dirty as well. As they finish off the small mob the blonde easily takes care of the ones that have appeared by the school.

"Let's go back inside," she tells them when they're done and then they're all climbing up, the side ladder is retracted, and then they're climbing back down and back into the safety of their refuge.

Quinn knows that they should try and maybe search for other survivors in the city because it's obvious now that there are other people out there. But all she can remember are the screams and she doesn't think she'll be able to handle it if they see something like that again in the same day.

Santana and Brittany are obviously lost in their own guilt and Rachel seems so despondent that Quinn has no doubt that they all need their rest despite there still being plenty of daylight outside.

Quinn also knows that this situation is way over their heads.

/-/

The rest of the day slowly passes by as they remain inside. As soon as their boots hit the ground, Brittany and Santana immediately locate the cats and they retreat into the sleeping area. The others decide to take inventory and they all empty out their bags in the Main Room.

Rachel's certainly out of it as she watches the others arrange their new supplies and she only gives Finn a half-hearted glare when she sees Puck pull out the video games from his bag. She should have figured that's why he didn't want her tagging along.

Finn gives her a nervous smile and holds out the new clothes he found for her in appeasement and she looks at it before taking it and setting them aside.

She kind of doesn't really care right now and instead sips at her water with disinterest. She easily ignores his look of disappointment and then he's turning back to the others to compare their items.

Quinn takes out the solar lights, the blender her and Rachel had found and the pots and pans they had thrown into their bags as well. There's also a coffee maker that had samples of coffee in them inside as they figured they can at least start their mornings off with something to look forward to. She doesn't feel like setting the lights out right now to charge so she decides to do that tomorrow.

They didn't have a chance to grab the vitamins that Rachel had suggested but at least they had managed to find some watches as well as some dishes and cups. Maybe they can go back later but Quinn's not sure if she wants to step foot into the mall again. She does admit that it's an important source of supplies however, so she doesn't cross it off their list yet.

She is annoyed though that the boys had left without informing them. She doesn't want to feel like a nag telling them what they should and shouldn't do, but they could have at least _mentioned_ it so Quinn and her group could have just left the mall instead of waiting for them. She shakes her head to try and dispel her irritation because she knows there's no point in getting angry. Luckily nothing happened this time (to them anyways) and Quinn doesn't want think about what could happen next time so she concentrates on organizing the things in front of her.

She does admit that the belts are a good find. The video games however…

Both she and Rachel are kind of satisfied though when Finn and Puck figure out they can't play their games because the TV in the shelter doesn't have any composite A/V outlets for them to plug the console into.

It's a minor consolation but they'll take what they can get.

\-\

At 10pm they decide to turn in early just like yesterday because there's nothing else to do.

Brittany and Santana have already fallen asleep with the cats curled up besides them and everyone else tip toes around as they settle into their own beds.

Finn has positioned the cot he had found for Rachel right by him but she takes one look at the lopsided leg and glances over to Quinn who merely stares at her before she shrugs and nods.

The small brunette ignores Finn's confused look as she walks over to Quinn's bed and slips in under the covers before she curls into a ball on her designated side. Quinn turns off the light immediately after, easily ceasing any attempts the football captain could have at trying to talk to his girlfriend. The blonde uses her phone once again as a flashlight and then she's slipping in right besides Rachel. She places her phone under the cot and lays there in the darkness, listening to the others eventually succumbing to sleep.

Somehow, sometime later, Quinn manages to drift into a restless slumber and she doesn't realize she has until she's startled awake by a nightmare that stays even as she wakes up.

She's disoriented due to the dark that's there whether her eyes are opened or closed and she takes a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Eventually the panic fades and that's when she finally notices the sound of quiet crying right next to her.

It's obvious it's coming from Rachel. Quinn debates for a moment but she knows she'll be unable to fall back asleep so she turns and gently places a hand on where she thinks the brunette's arm is and the other girl stiffens immediately.

Quinn leans in, exactly as she did last night. "Follow me, Berry," she whispers and then she's moving off the bed and grabbing her phone. She shines it on the other girl and Rachel hesitates but Quinn gestures to her again and then the both of them are making their way towards the Main Room with the phone's light guiding them.

Rachel remains quiet, save for a few sniffles, even as Quinn hands her the jacket Finn had found for her earlier. It isn't until the blonde is zipping up her own that Rachel finally moves and places the jacket on as well.

"I'll go first. Come up when I signal you to," Quinn tells her and then she's looping the gun strap over her head, placing the flashlight in her teeth and effortlessly climbing up the ladder.

Rachel watches from below as the blonde reaches the entrance and opens the hatch slightly, checking the area before she's pulling herself up and over. The brunette blinks as light suddenly shines in her eyes and she realizes that that's the signal. She slowly makes her way up while Quinn's flashlight lights her way.

A strong hand is offered to her as soon as she reaches the top and then the both of them are stepping into the chilly night. The container is cold under Rachel's bare feet and she shivers slightly and pulls her jacket closer to her.

Quinn clicks off the flashlight and closes the hatch and they both wait for their eyes to adjust.

"Quinn?" Rachel asks softly, because she doesn't know what they're doing up here.

The blonde shrugs her shoulders and glances around the area until she's satisfied with what she sees before taking a seat and pulling her knees close. There are only a few zombies by the generator right now and they're just _there_ again, same like last night.

Rachel stands there uncomfortably, not sure what to do and it isn't until the blonde pats the area next to her that the smaller girl finally moves and sits next to her.

"I can't sleep," Quinn quietly tells her. They both wait and watch the zombies to see if they react to the sounds and when nothing happens they decide it's okay to talk as long as they keep their voices low.

Rachel nods at Quinn because she feels the same way. The blonde isn't looking at her though; her gaze is now fixated on whatever is above them.

Rachel finally takes in her surroundings and looks up to see what has caught Quinn's attention.

"Wow," she breathes out when she notices how many stars she can see sprinkling the sky.

"Yeah," the blonde agrees and they continue to stargaze in companionable silence.

When the singer turns to view a separate part of the sky, she finally notices the faint light coming from the southwest and she immediately grips onto Quinn's arm, alerting the blonde of what she sees.

"Quinn!" Rachel whispers harshly as she points and Quinn doesn't react and merely runs a hand through her messy blonde hair. She notices one of the zombies move but it stays by the generator so she ignores it.

"Yeah—I noticed yesterday but I didn't want to scare anyone so I didn't say anything…" the blonde sighs out. Rachel doesn't respond and continues to stare at the lights and Quinn can feel the smaller girl trembling slightly.

"Rachel?"

"Quinn," the brunette whispers softly and she sounds unsure. "Do—you were there when they were evacuating the hospital right? I remember seeing you there," she asks instead.

Quinn frowns at the random direction the conversation is headed. "Yeah, Britt and I were accompanying Santana because her parents had volunteered—I vaguely remember seeing you there too."

There's no response as Rachel struggles to organize her thoughts and just as Quinn's about to question her again, the brunette speaks once more.

"Because, that light? In the distance? That's—from the Hospital," the brunette tells her nervously. "I've been stargazing in this area numerous times and I _always_ notice their lights simply because it always interfered with the identification of some of the dimmer constellations and I always considered it frustrating beyond belief."

They fall into silence and they can't help but shudder when another cold breeze hits them. They're not sure however, if they're shivering from the weather or from this new bit of information. Rachel shifts and moves closer to the blonde for comfort, for warmth, as they both rethink their situation.

Quinn shakes her head slowly, because yes, things are _definitely_ way over their heads.


	7. 48 to 33

**A/N: thanks4thereviews! **(why yes, I do like clumping words together and replacing words with numbers)

ShadowCub: uhm.. i'm sorry you hate the cats and Brittany and Santana? I..duno how to respond to that.. haha  
>smartblonde317: I didn't think this story is that scary but I guess i'll say "just as planned!"<br>someone was amazing and was able to leave a review without a name... I didn't know we were able to do that.  
>Oh man I was gonna type all the names of ppl who reviewed because you guys are super cool but I got lazy changing from tab to tab and trying to remember how to type out your names (all those numbers and sticky letters, oh my) but do know that I do enjoy reading your reviews and I really appreciate them. Like, seriously, if I thought people didn't like my story I would totally abandon it (which is still a possibility shh)<p>

More Faberry in this chapter. Is it going too fast I wonder? The Finn hate in the fandom is kind of funny. He's the scapegoat for the stupid stuff in this story, but he means _well_. Maybe.

this chapter is ridiculously long. longest one yet.. I was going to cut in it half and maybe upload it in two parts but there's no good place for it to stop at. as always, I duno how I feel about it but I duno what else to do with it so i'm updating! It is bad? maybe. _maybe_. I mean, is it bad? (yeah this chapter is kinda bad)

/-/

When another nightmare wakes Quinn up for the third time that morning, she already knows that today isn't going to be a good day.

Her alarm goes off at its new preset time: 8am, and it takes her a few minutes until she reaches over and turns it off. There is no voice berating her this morning, from Santana, or any comments about the time from Kurt. Rachel is already awake (or did she not sleep?) and Brittany and her cats remain quiet, all three of them still curled around Santana.

Quinn lies there for a moment longer, unmotivated to move and wake up, because that would be admitting that yesterday wasn't a dream. But, she knows they can't just sleep here forever and eventually, she sits up.

"Rise and shine," she rasps out into the hushed room.

It's just another day in Lima, Ohio.

And another day being alive.

\-\

Quinn decides to start the day off the right way. As soon as she's finished with her morning routine and a quick rinse (they really need to find a way to shower properly), she heads on over to the storage room and looks inside. Her original purpose is to grab a gallon of water but she stops and takes a moment to check over their inventory. Her eyes gloss over the many stacked cans of food and containers of water and their supply seems indefinite, for now, but eventually they'll run out.

"Q?"

A voice breaks her from her reverie and she turns to face Brittany who's looking at her with a quizzical expression.

"Oh, sorry, am I in your way?" the cheer captain apologizes as she moves over to allow the taller blonde access to the room.

Brittany tilts her head at her but steps into the room and quickly grabs two cans of cat food and another can of pears for herself. She hesitates when she passes by Quinn again and looks like she wants to say something but shakes her head instead and walks out to the Main Room.

Quinn watches as she leaves and she's wondering what Brittany wanted to say, but knowing the other girl she will eventually find out. The blonde sighs softly and goes in to grab the water before also heading to join the others.

The rest are already gathered around the table and it's quiet as they dig into their meals out of habit rather than from hunger. Quinn beelines toward the coffee machine she had cleaned out yesterday and sets it on the floor by one of the outlets and in a few minutes the smell of coffee is permeating through the air.

"That smells divine," Kurt points out as he moves from his seat to join Quinn on the ground as they watch the coffee drip down.

Quinn nods in agreement and she can't help but think how it's only times like these that people really stop to enjoy the little things in life.

When the coffee is ready, the cups that were left in Rachel's bag are promptly dug out, cleaned, and then passed around.

As Quinn takes her first sip, the coffee is bitter and tastes awful but for some reason she thinks it's the best she has ever had.

"I wish we had some milk," Brittany mentions as she takes in another mouthful. She almost spits it out though when it burns her tongue. "Ow."

"You gotta wait for it to cool down a bit, Britts," Santana tells her. She hands the taller blonde her own cup that she has been blowing on to cool and Brittany smiles at her in thanks before accepting it.

"Perhaps we can find some sugar and powdered cream later. They're not entirely ideal for the health conscious but it will definitely be better than nothing," Rachel suggests as she drinks her own coffee while reading over the packaging.

Puck tries his and shudders at the bitterness. "Yeah, definitely need some sugar at least."

Finn places his own untouched cup down. He never really did like coffee much. "So, what are we going to do today?" he asks instead.

Looks are thrown around before all eyes land on the blonde that is slowly sipping at her coffee and ignoring the rest of the world surrounding her.

Eventually, she feels their gazes on her and she raises an eyebrow as she lowers her cup onto the table.

"We were wondering what our plans will be today, Quinn," Rachel informs her but she gives her an expectant look and the blonde knows that Rachel wants to discuss what they saw last night with the others.

Quinn sighs as she glances over to Santana and Brittany because she's not sure how they're feeling today. She herself feels sluggish and despite the usual energy that Rachel seems to be exuding, the blonde can tell she's only pretending to be okay; she seems to be really good at that for some reason.

"Well…I was thinking we should go get some more uh, stuff, or something," Finn tells them and Quinn stares at him because she already knows what 'stuff' he plans to get.

Rachel immediately gives him a glare because she understands as well and he deflates at her response.

"Before we converse for the proceedings of today, Quinn and I have some rather grim news that we need to inform you all of. Quinn?" the smaller brunette turns to the blonde, leaving the conversation open for her.

The cheer captain taps at her half empty cup distractedly and chances a quick glance at the new watch on her wrist, making a quick note of the time. She doesn't know how to tell them what they found out and she's especially dreading how Santana will react. Despite her fierce personality, she was actually quite close to her parents.

Yup, this was definitely not going to end well.

The blonde clears her throat and decides to just get it over with.

"Okay, well. The other night, I had trouble sleeping so I went outside to check things out and—"

"Wait, you went outside by yourself?" Santana interrupts as she looks at her captain who shrugs.

"Well, yeah. I'm still here so obviously nothing happened—"

"Regardless, that is very careless Quinn! You should have—"

"Okay, I kind of already mentioned this last night Rachel—"

"Yes, but I was upset at the time and now that I've had the chance to recover—"

"Wait, so both you and Rachel went somewhere last night?"

"We had trouble sleeping Finn, and Quinn merely brought me outside to stargaze—"

"Whoa, is that like some kind of secret code for something? That is so hot."

"Noah! That is inappropriate—"

"I've always suspected some kind of tension between you two—"

"Me and San stargaze all the time then."

"Britts—"

"Okay! Stop! All of you!" Quinn shouts out as she slaps her hands on the table for emphasis. The items on the table all rattle slightly and some of Finn's coffee spills onto the wooden surface.

The conversation halts and they all look at the blonde who is shaking her head in frustration. She takes a few breaths to calm down and continues.

"Okay, listen. This—this, _whatever_ that Rachel and I found out? It's serious okay? And I didn't want to tell you guys because—you know, this whole thing we're in and everything…" her voice trails off and Rachel gives her an encouraging look and Quinn shakes her head again before speaking once more.

"The other day I noticed that there's a separate set of lights that's still on in the city—"

"Wait, isn't that a good thing though?" Finn asks, once again interrupting. "Lights mean that there are other people! That means we—Ow!"

Santana withdraws her hand and places it on the table. "Shut up, Finnonence. Let Q talk already."

Quinn gives her a nod in gratitude. "Yeah, technically we should be jumping at the news. Problem is… the major problem here is that those lights? They're coming from the southwest."

Everyone is quiet as they take in the news.

"But—but isn't the southwest…?" Brittany asks, sounding confused.

"Also, it's not confirmed—but Rachel says that the lights are coming from the hospital in that direction."

"Quinn, I _know_ that it's definitely—"

"Wait, _wait_," Santana holds up a hand as she tries to wrap her head around the words. "The hospital? As in, St. Rita's Hospital? As in, _the hospital my parents work at_?"

"It's—I'm not sure what it means, S, but yes that hospital—"

"No. _No._ Clearly you are mistaken," Santana says as she stands up, her voice getting louder as she talks. "There's _no_ way that the lights can be coming from the hospital. They cleared that place out _three_ weeks ago. Shut off all the electricity—all the equipment—everything!"

"I know S, but those lights—"

"No. _No._ I don't know what you two saw or what Berry claims to have seen, but it's obvious that you two seriously need your eyes checked because there is _no_ freaking way—"

"Santana, I understand that this information is upsetting but—"

"Listen, _hobbit_, what I'm upset about here is—"

"S, calm down okay? We don't know for sure if it's really coming from—"

"No, you _definitely_ know for sure that it's not coming from the hospital because it's _not!_"

"When's the last time you contacted your parents, Santana?" Rachel asks her calmly and Santana freezes as she stares hard at the smaller brunette.

"She—she said she talked to them a few days ago, didn't you, San?" Brittany answers for her but she looks away.

"…Your parents aren't the only ones that volunteered, Santana, and there are _so_ many factors and deviations about the truth—"

"_No_, forget this, I'm not sticking around for this," Santana starts moving away from the table and Quinn stands, reaching out to grab her arm to stop her but she quickly shrugs her off. "Don't, Q, alright? Don't make me hits you."

Quinn lowers her hand and Santana walks back to the sleeping area because there's nowhere else to go. Brittany stands and gives the other blonde a questioning glance before she follows after her.

"Well, that went rather well?" Kurt comments idly as he sets aside his coffee for his canned peaches.

"Extremely," Quinn sighs out as she drops back down into her seat.

"Quinn," Rachel turns to regard the blonde and she's angry and upset that she hadn't defended her. "I _know_ what I saw, I told you that—"

"_Rachel_," Quinn looks at her tiredly. "I know what you saw, and I know what I saw too. But—there's no use jumping to conclusions—okay? I've been thinking about it and what—what if it just so happens to be another building, that's in the same direction? We don't know for sure it's coming from the hospital."

The smaller brunette stares at her for a second before she shakes her head slowly; she really thought she and Quinn were becoming friends but it's obvious the blonde still doesn't completely trust her.

"I believe you, Rachel," Finn speaks up and she turns to look at her boyfriend, giving him a smile. She can't help but feel the frustration though, because Quinn saying that would have meant so much more.

"Okay," Puck says as he places his food down. "What does this all mean then?"

Quinn shrugs because she doesn't know. She reaches for her coffee and sips absently at the now cooling liquid.

"I think, we should go check it out," Finn suggests as everyone, except Quinn, turns to look at him. "I-I mean, if there's other people there, maybe we should go see and maybe they have like, a way to get out of here!"

"I highly doubt that, Finn," Quinn says as she swishes her coffee around.

"How do you know that, Quinn?" he says angrily. He's tired of her constant insults and her know-it-all attitude. "Rachel says the hospital is still lit up—there _has_ to be survivors there. The sooner we find them, the sooner we can get out of here and away from all _this! _Who knows what we'll miss if we wait any longer!"

"He has a point, Quinn," the smaller brunette says to the cheer captain. "We need to at least determine what those lights mean. We'll—wait for Brittany to placate Santana and then, and then all of us should go there and—"

"No," Finn interrupts her. "I say that just, me and the guys should go. After what happened yesterday—what you girls all saw, it'd be better for us to go anyways. You should stay here, and—and recover or whatever, get your earrings straightened out or however they say it; it'll be better with a smaller group anyways."

"_Finn!_ Regardless of your obvious chauvinistic comment, you are not suggesting that only you and Puck and Kurt continue on this dangerous endeavor by yourselves! Do you know what happened when our forces were divided? I will not allow you to—"

"Wait, what? You won't _allow_ me to go, Rachel?" the football player looks at her incredulously and she takes a step back as his anger is turned to her. "This-this, everything!" he says frustrated as he throws his hands up. "I wasn't there for you Rachel, yesterday, and there's no way I'm going to place you in danger, not again," he says to her and she shakes her head before turning back to Quinn.

"Quinn, you're the leader—what do you think we should do?"

The blonde looks over to Rachel and then her eyes are on Finn. "Truthfully, I think we should let Santana calm down for right now. I'd give her at least a day—Brittany as well—what happened… it's not something someone can easily brush aside. I agree though that we'll need to check out those lights. It's Finn's choice if he wants to go today—I'd advise against it but ultimately, it's up to him," she tells them.

"_Quinn!"_

"Puck, man, you in?" Finn asks as he looks to his best friend who shakes his head.

"I say this is a bad idea, but, I can't let you go alone. I got your back, man," the mohawked boy says as he claps Finn on the shoulder.

The football captain turns to look at Kurt.

"Oh? So now you're admitting that I am of the same gender as you, Finn?" he asks, still slightly bitter, and Finn looks at him pleadingly. "Fine," Kurt agrees, because he can never say no to those eyes.

"Alright, let's get ready to head out then," Finn says earnestly as they start gathering their gear.

"_Finn!"_ Rachel shouts at him and he smiles at her.

"Don't worry, Rachel, we'll get out of here soon. I promise," and he kisses her cheek before grabbing for his gun.

"Noah. Kurt," she tries to appeal to the other two and they shake their heads because their decision is already made.

As a last resort she turns back to Quinn but the blonde ignores her and Rachel can only watch as the three finish packing up and slowly start climbing up the ladder.

"Finn," Quinn calls out suddenly and Rachel feels hope that maybe the cheer captain is going to stop them. "Take a walkie-talkie, just in case. The range isn't that far but it's better than nothing," she tells him instead and Finn nods before placing one in his belt and then they're gone.

The smaller brunette stares up at the now closed hatch and only her and Quinn are left in the room.

She waits for a moment and then whirls and faces Quinn.

"Why didn't you stop them?" she asks furiously.

Quinn glances up at her and meets the small brunette's glare with her own.

"And _what_ did you want me to say?" she bites out, just as heatedly. "Finn, no, you shouldn't go, you're going to get yourselves killed. Yeah, like he's going to listen to that. They're not kids, Rachel. They _know_ what they're doing—they—"

"No! _No_ they don't! They still think this is all some kind of video game and—"

"He's _your _boyfriend now, Rachel! It's not _my_ fault that he wants to play the hero, okay? If anything, the fact that he's even here is your fa—" the blonde cuts herself off abruptly but the damage has already been done.

Rachel looks at her, eyes wide as the guilt stabs her suddenly when she realizes that it _is_ her fault. If Finn and Puck hadn't come looking for her, they wouldn't even be here now. They would be in Indiana, safe and sound with the others. With their family.

"Rachel, I didn't mean to—I'm—" Quinn tries to apologize but the smaller brunette struggles to keep her composure and stops her.

"No, _no_," she whispers out as she shakes her head. "It-it is my fault, if it wasn't for me…" her voice trails off and Quinn stares at her awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Quinn, but can you—?" she fights back a sob and the blonde feels horrible as she stands up and nods.

"I'll—I need to set the solar lights outside, anyways," she says softly. She quickly grabs her backpack and packs it with the lights and a walkie-talkie before she slings her weapon on and makes her way up the ladder.

Rachel waits until the entrance is closed and Quinn is gone before she takes a seat at the table and quietly sobs into her hands.

/-/

"Hey, you sure about this?" Puck asks as they start their way to the path that leads to the southwest.

There's supposedly a barricade blocking off the area but considering the amount of zombies that have appeared, there's most likely an opening somewhere and that's where they're headed.

"Look, it's time for us to man up. We can't keep letting the girls do everything, alright?" Finn tells him.

"I still think this is a terrible idea," Kurt says to him as he adjusts the gun strap. "I, for one, think we should wait for the others and plan something instead—"

Finn holds out a hand suddenly. "Hey, you guys hear that?"

Puck and Kurt both stop to listen.

"It…it sounds like someone screaming?" Kurt says nervously.

"This way!"

\-\

"San?" Brittany pokes her head into the room and looks over to their shared bed and she sees the other girl petting Charity distractedly. She notices that Santana never really bothers with Lord Tubbington though. They didn't get along for some reason and the taller blonde never understood why.

Santana doesn't say anything but gives her a small smile in acknowledgement.

Brittany waits for a minute before walking over and joining her on the bed.

"Hey," Brittany tries again.

"...Hey."

/-/

"Wow, way to go, Fabray," Quinn mutters to herself as she sits and settles herself onto the roof of the container.

The hatch is closed and the lights are spread out to the side of the container. Her gun and radio are placed beside her as she stares around the parking lot. She notices that there are a few more zombies around the generator and she watches them for a few minutes before turning away. She still has no idea why they're there, but she has a feeling they'll find out eventually.

Hopefully it won't be too late by then.

Quinn sighs and leans back until she's lying down and facing the sky overhead. It's actually a nice and sunny day with a few clouds hanging in the sky; too nice really, considering everything. She squints slightly at the sunlight but thinks it feels nice to have the warmth on her face. She brings her right arm up and covers her eyes as she soaks in the sun.

Time passes, and just as Quinn is drifting off to sleep, she hears the hatch creak open and she moves her arm slightly, turning her head to see who has joined her. A moment later, Brittany pulls herself up from the entrance and Quinn is slightly disappointed because she had wanted to apologize to Rachel, but it seems like the smaller brunette is still avoiding her.

"Hey, Q," Brittany says to her cheer captain as she closes the opening and moves to sit next to her.

Quinn sits up and rubs at her eyes drowsily before nodding to the other blonde. "Hey, B. What's up?"

Brittany is quiet and pulls her knees up as she stares straight ahead.

"Where's Santana?" Quinn asks instead, because it was rare seeing them not together.

"She's still in bed, sulking," Brittany finally responds as she turns to face the other girl. "Q?"

Quinn looks at her curiously. "Yeah, B?"

"I…I heard you and Rachel arguing earlier…" she tells her and the cheer captain can't help but feel guilty.

"I didn't mean to—"

"Do you really think it's Rachel's fault that Finn and Puck are here?" Brittany asks her instead and the words die from Quinn's mouth as she looks at the taller blonde who clearly seems upset. It takes her a second to realize what she's alluding to and Quinn's immediately shaking her head.

"B, no, I don't think—"

"Because, because…then isn't it my fault you and San are here then?" Brittany says in a small voice as she buries her face in her knees.

'Yeah, way to go, Fabray,' Quinn reprimands herself before she sighs softly. If Santana wasn't downstairs brooding, she would've been up here, ripping her a new one.

"Listen, Britt," the cheer captain tells her seriously and she waits until the taller blonde lifts her head before continuing. "It was my own choice and S's own choice to stay behind with you, you know that right?"

"But—"

"Finn and Puck?" Quinn pushes on, not letting Brittany interrupt. "They're the same. What I said to Rachel, I just—I wasn't thinking clearly. If anything, it's whoever threw Rachel into that dumpster, it's _their_ fault. Whoever thought that during an evacuation is the best time to pull a prank on someone? They're the ones who deserve to be here more than anyone else."

"But—"

"No 'buts' Britt! We're all here because we chose to be, okay? No one forced us to stay here and you know S, Britt, she would _never_ do something unless she wanted to."

Brittany wavers but eventually nods because she knows it's true.

"Come here, B," Quinn says as she holds out her arms. The taller blonde gives her a watery smile and moves until she's leaning into her cheer captain's embrace.

"I'm scared, Q," Brittany confesses quietly as Quinn continues to hold her. "A-after what happened at the mall, a-and what happened to those people…I'm scared…what if, what if that happens to us—and—"

"_Stop_ Britt, it'll be okay, alright?" Quinn comforts her. "You know why no one at McKinley ever messed with us?"

Brittany looks over at her and thinks for a moment before responding. "Because both of you have such good defense mechanisms and if anyone got close enough to hurt us, you or S would make them cry by attacking their weaknesses and pointing out all their flaws?" Pause. "That, or, Coach would have probably done something illegal to them."

Quinn gives Brittany a smile and leans to rest her head on the taller blonde's shoulder.

"Yeah, something like that," she agrees. "These zombies here? They're going to be same; we're gonna find out their weaknesses and we'll get them before they get us. _No one_, dead or alive, messes with the Cheerios."

"Yeah," Brittany echoes softly and continues to remain in Quinn's reassuring hold. "Q?"

"Uh huh."

"I think you should tell Rachel that, too, and maybe give her a hug. She was still crying earlier, before I came up here," the taller blonde informs her and she can feel Quinn sigh.

"Yeah, I should, shouldn't I?"

"Uh huh," Brittany nods. "Your hugs aren't as nice as mine, but I think Rachel will still like them.

Quinn chuckles lightly because Brittany's comments always amused her to no end.

Their moment is interrupted though, when they hear shouting towards the school and both blondes turn to look.

"Is that Finn?" Brittany asks as moves away from Quinn. "What's he doing?"

Quinn grabs her rifle and uses the scope to zoom in and she can see Finn waving his arms at her, trying to get their attention. "No idea—" she starts to say but then Puck and Kurt finally step into view and Quinn almost drops her gun when she notices that Kurt is covered in blood.

The cheer captain curses under her breath and lowers the rifle. "Britt, go get S and Rachel up here. I don't care if you need to drag her by her hair—get both of them up here. And tell them to bring their guns and all the ammo we have," she orders the taller blonde.

"Q?" Brittany asks fearfully.

"B, go, now," she tells her again and the other cheerleader is quickly throwing open the hatch and descending down into their shelter.

Quinn slings the gun strap over her head and she's practically jumping off the container to meet up with the other three.

\-\

"What happened?" she asks as soon as she's close enough. Finn's shaking his head and keeps looking back behind them so Quinn turns to Puck and Kurt. "Why didn't you use the walkie-talkie?"

"It-it's not my blood," Kurt manages to utter out as Puck tries to guide them all forward.

"Halfway there, we ran into some survivors," Puck explains as they start moving towards the container. "One of them was injured already, and then all these zombies—they freaking came out of nowhere. We tried to save him, and then this, this zombie just—_tackles_ him and it bites his throat open and the blood splattered _everywhere_ and Kurt was the closest and some of it got on him. We had to ditch the walkie-talkie too; blood got on that as well."

They continue their way up the ladder and Quinn is quiet because she can only see the blood that's splattered all around Kurt's face. Around his eyes, his nose, his mouth. They know so little about the infections, about how they're spread and everything…

"Kurt!" Rachel cries out as soon as she steps out from the shelter and Quinn can see her eyes are still red and puffy. "Wh-what happened?" she asks him.

"It's-it's not my blood," he explains once more and Rachel is trembling as she merely stares.

"Okay why the hell—Ay Dios Mio—" Santana interrupts when she notices the blood on Kurt.

"What happe—Oh, no, Kurt!" Brittany gapes at him when she sees him.

Kurt shakes his head and is about to explain again but stops when he feels himself gagging because he can still feel the blood on his face.

"Q! The zombies from the generator—" Santana tells her suddenly and sure enough that small mob is moving towards them.

Quinn isn't worried about them however, and she brings up her gun and faces it towards the school. Finn mimics her and they both watch as zombie after zombie after zombie appears from around the corner.

"We have a bigger problem," she tells them as the crowd continues to grow.

/-/

Quinn has them leave the container because the number of zombies are increasing and they need to keep them from blocking the school and trapping them in. They kill the mob from the generator easily before clearing the path to the front of the building and she has them stay around the area by the stairs.

"There's so many of them," Rachel says as she struggles to reload her gun. Her hands are shaking and she can't align the equipment properly.

"It's…it's the smell, or whatever," Quinn tells them as she snipes at the ones in the further back, leaving the closer zombies to the others.

"We kill one, five more replaces it," Santana notes as she continues to shoot through the mob. "Why the hell did you lead them here, Finnept!"

"We weren't just going to leave Kurt!" Finn tells her.

"Well, maybe you should have—"

"_Santana!_" Rachel stares at Santana who shrugs.

"Is there anything we can do to stop it?" Finn asks instead.

Puck is silent as he continues to hit zombie after zombie and Quinn thinks that his accuracy is almost as good as her own. Maybe those games were good for something after all.

The cheer captain glances over to Kurt. He has managed to wipe the blood from his face but his clothes are stained with red and Quinn watches him for a moment longer before turning back at the mob.

"The blood, they're attracted to the blood," she mutters out and Santana lifts her eyebrow at her.

"I think that's already been established, Q," Santana tells her before she's reloading her own gun just as Rachel finally manages to push the new magazine in.

"We need to—to get the _smell_ away," Quinn tells them. "At this rate, we'll eventually be overwhelmed and they'll just keep coming no matter what we do. We need to get rid of the smell, somehow."

"How would we do that?" Puck grunts out as he stops to reload as Santana steps back in.

Quinn thinks and both she and Rachel come to the same conclusion at the same time.

"Bleach."

"It's what the hospitals use for disinfectant!" the smaller brunette explains. "Hydrogen peroxide can be used as well; it's a lot more environmentally friendly than bleach and—"

"Okay, bleach and hydrogen peroxide," Quinn interrupts because they don't have time to listen to a long rant. "There should still be plenty inside the school."

"The janitor's closet has a bunch!" Brittany informs her. "Whenever me and San go in there we always see them and—"

"Yeah, the janitor's closet," Santana interjects quickly before Brittany embarrasses them even further.

"Hydrogen peroxide, they should have in the nurse's office," Rachel tells her and Quinn nods.

"Yeah, I had to use some to treat Santana scratches the other day. I saw a few bottles in there."

"So we're going to bleach them?" Kurt asks as he shakily fires and misses another shot.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to head into the school and grab all the bleach I can find. Kurt," Quinn turns to him and he stops shooting to look at her. "You need to get rid of your clothes and you need to wash off that blood on you. Wiping it down is _not_ going to work; that smell or whatever is definitely still on you."

"A shower—a shower sounds good," Kurt nods in agreement.

"Puck, go back to the shelter and grab as many of the gallon bottles of water you can and bring them back here. Finn, you're going to follow Kurt and help him wash up—"

"Wait! Help him wash up? Like—Like help him _shower_? As in he'll be without clothes?" Finn asks in surprise.

Everyone stops firing their guns to stare at him before turning back to the zombies.

"_Finn!"_ Rachel shouts at him angrily.

"What?"

"_Okay_, we'll disregard your _blatant_ homophobia for now, Finn; Puck, you up to the challenge?" Quinn asks the other football player who shrugs.

"Yeah, as long as I don't gotta join him, it's cool."

"Wow, I feel so loved," Kurt says sarcastically.

"Okay, Puck, go get the water—and some of Kurt's extra clothes and bring it back here. Kurt, you wait for him to show up and then you guys go into the school and wash off in the boys shower."

"Wouldn't it be easier for me to wash off in the shower room inside the shelter?" Kurt points out and Quinn pauses before answering.

"No, in case this doesn't work we don't want them following the smell inside; at least this way they'll go into the school instead and if worse comes to worst we can hide underground."

Kurt seems satisfied with the explanation and he turns back to the task at hand.

"Alright, water," Puck nods but before he can move away Quinn grabs him and pulls him close.

"Listen, I want you to keep an eye on Kurt, just in case," she tells him quietly and he looks at her before glancing to the other boy whose attention is focused on the zombies in front.

Puck keeps his voice low. "You…don't think…?"

"We—don't know for sure, but…" Quinn says and he sighs softly and nods.

"Okay."

"Go get the stuff," she orders him and he takes off running to the shelter, easily dodging around the already dead zombies.

"Alright, the rest of you, keep it up and I'm going to get the bleach—I'll be back as soon as I can. Britt," Quinn looks to the other blonde who glances at her before aiming for another headshot. "You're in charge until I get back."

Finn wants to protest but a glare from Quinn silences him.

" 'Kay," Brittany agrees easily and the cheer captain nods to her before she turns and unlocks the school door with her key. She barely remembers to kick down the doorstop before she's stepping in and sprinting to the janitor's closet.

/-/

"Their numbers are endless—how—I always thought more people evacuated than this," Rachel murmurs out as she reloads her gun. She's getting used to it and her accuracy is increasing as she calms down.

Santana glances at her and she's about to say something when Brittany stops her.

"San, please, not now, okay?" the blonde begs her and she barely manages to hold back her comment.

"And _that_ is why Brittany is in charge," Kurt says from the side as he gives Finn a pointed look.

The football captain grudgingly nods because he knew he would never be able to do that.

\-\

Quinn manages to find around ten bottles in the closet and she places it into the hallway leading to the exit before she quickly swings back and heads over to the cafeteria. She figures there has to be more in there considering the lunch workers need to keep the kitchen clean as well. She manages to find one almost full container and one that's half empty but thinks that it's better than nothing before she places it down besides the other ones.

She's not sure if they have enough though and quickly runs over to the nurse's office to grab the hydrogen peroxide. She doesn't know how safe it is to mix both chemicals but figures the alternative is better than dealing with the never ending zombie mob.

As she's making her way back to the hallway with the bottles in her arms she sees Puck and Kurt heading to the locker room.

"Hey," she calls out to them and they turn to her in surprise.

"You scared me!" Kurt says as he grabs at his chest and Puck immediately lowers his gun. Quinn brushes it off before she hands them two bottles of hydrogen peroxide.

"Dilute this with some of that water and pour it on yourself—as well as on your clothes; we want to make sure the smell is completely gone. Find a bag to dump the clothes in too; I think I saw some in the janitor's closet. We'll bury them later or throw it out somewhere. When you're done, come back out and join us. Hopefully we'll have stopped them by then," she tells them and they nod before splitting up.

Quinn quickly moves and transports the rest of the bleach to the front exit and then she's pulling the door open and checking out the situation.

"How's the mob?" she asks as she looks at the alarming amount of dead zombies gathered around them.

"They're not stopping," Brittany tells her as she moves to reload.

"Ammo?"

"Still good, but we'll need to restock when we're done," Santana replies.

"Okay," she nods slowly. "I managed to find 11 and a half bottles of bleach and hopefully that's enough. Rachel," she turns to the smaller brunette and watches as she fires another shot, hitting a zombie center in the forehead before she turns to the blonde.

"Yes, Quinn?" there's detachment in her voice and Quinn's only glad that Rachel is willing to put aside their argument for the time being.

Quinn shakes her head. "Okay, you're a pretty good shot, but regardless, I need you to take like two or three bottles and pour them around the perimeter of the container and around the top; we need to make sure they aren't attracted to the shelter for sure."

"Okay," Rachel nods quickly and shoulders her gun before she takes two bottles and runs to the container.

"Everyone else, we're gonna slowly move out and I'm going to pour the bleach as far from the school as possible; we want to cut them off from whatever's bringing them here and make sure that they don't completely bottleneck us to trap us in here."

"Lead the way, Q," Santana says as she grabs one of the extra guns and exchanges her current one for it; the other one kept sticking and she doesn't want to deal with that during a crucial time.

"Britt, you're on sniping duties so we'll trade guns for now," Quinn tells the other blonde and they switch off. "Finn, help me carry the rest of the bottles," she orders him as she grabs four and he easily carries the remaining six, including the half filled one, in his arms.

"Okay, S, B, clear the way for us."

"Way ahead of you, Q," Santana states and she and Brittany unload their bullets into zombie after zombie as they continue to step haphazardly around the prone bodies.

"Uh, are they really dead?" Finn asks anxiously as he steps over another twitching zombie; the further they go the more the floor is littered with them and it's getting harder to find empty areas for them to walk on.

"Hopefully," Quinn tells him and he gulps in fear before following quickly behind her.

A hand suddenly grabs at Quinn's leg and she almost trips headfirst into a pile of zombies but she barely manages to regain her footing and then there's a gunshot sounding behind them as Brittany easily takes him out.

She needs to remember to thank the taller blonde later.

They step around more carefully and there are a few more attempts for a quick bite from some not so dead zombies before Quinn finally thinks that they're far enough and she stops them.

"Okay, you guys make sure none of the zombies get past this area and I'll pour the bleach. I'm going to start here and we're going to make our way back to the school. Cross your fingers and hope this works," she tells them as she uncaps the first bottle and starts pouring.

/-/

Kurt is glad that he's used to showering in the locker rooms otherwise he's pretty sure this would be extremely awkward as he strips off his clothes in front of Puck.

"Time to start washing, Hummel," Puck tells him as he twists off the lid to the water and gestures to it.

"Okay, okay, no need to be pushy," Kurt says as he grabs one of the half empty bottles of peroxide and opens it. "Pour some in here; it needs to be diluted first before I use it on myself."

Puck complies and Kurt mixes it around before he pours the bottle in his hair and makes sure to wash his face with the blend. He quickly signals to the football player to pour the water on him and they quickly go through one gallon of water as he rinses the remains of the hydrogen peroxide off his body.

"Ugh, I have a feeling it's definitely going to lighten my hair," Kurt says as he shivers at the chill of the water and when he opens his eyes he sees Puck staring at him.

"What? Did I miss a spot?"

The mohawked boy shakes his head and discards the empty bottle before reaching for another one.

"Quinn thinks that maybe you've been infected," he informs him and Kurt freezes.

"Is…is that why she had you follow me?" he asks quietly and Puck shrugs.

"That's one the reasons but I'm pretty sure she was just making sure you weren't by yourself and you definitely need help with your shower anyways."

Kurt is silent as he nods and he reaches for some soap they had found in his locker.

"I'm sorry man," Puck tells him softly and Kurt shakes his head before he gestures for the football player to pour some water.

"It's…it's fine," he sighs out and they finish the rest of the shower in silence.

\-\

The smell of bleach is strong and by the time Quinn is pouring the fourth bottle she feels like the smell is permanently infused inside her nose.

"That—is so strong," Finn coughs out as he fires another shot.

"That's the whole point, Finnept," Santana says irately as she stops to reload once more.

Rachel has finished her own job and has already rejoined them. She pauses in between shots to take a deep breath through her shirt that is pulled up to cover her mouth and nose to try and filter out the fumes.

"Gross, it feels like my mouth tastes like bleach," Brittany complains as she makes a disgusted face before aiming for another zombie.

"Yeah," Quinn agrees as she throws the now empty bottle to the side and quickly opens another one. "Does it seem like it's working though?" she asks because she's too busy pouring to check out their situation.

"Hey—yeah! I think it's working," Finn says enthusiastically as he uses his scope to look further down the path. The amount of zombies seems to be tapering off and there aren't as many ambling towards them.

"Good," the cheer captain sighs in relief but regrets it when she's coughing almost immediately after.

"Hey, how's it looking?" Puck asks when he and the freshly washed and dressed Kurt reunite with the group.

Kurt waves his hand in the air trying to push the smell away. "Wow, that stinks."

"Yeah, but it's working," Quinn informs them and the two move to join in the line of defense as they slowly move back, towards the school.

By the time they reach the front steps of the building, the smell of bleach is everywhere but thankfully the zombies have finally stopped appearing and the only ones remaining are the ones lying on the ground.

"Ugh, I'm definitely getting light headed," Quinn says as she takes a seat on the top step right beside the untouched bottles of hydrogen peroxide.

She figures they'll just save it in case they need it later. They will definitely need to stock up on more bleach though, even though Quinn hopes they won't need to use it again.

"We should head to a better ventilated area," Rachel tells them anxiously. "Inhalation of the fumes could lead to serious repercussions and—"

"The school is probably okay," Quinn interrupts her as she pulls herself up and opens the door.

The rest follow her and step inside. They make sure to lock the door behind them and then they're walking into the quiet building. A sigh relief is released when they can finally breathe and the smell of bleach is a faint memory.

Before they can move further in, Quinn stops them and turns to Kurt.

"Kurt," she looks to him and he nods miserably.

"Puck told me," he says as he twists his hands nervously and Quinn sighs.

"Wait, what's wrong?" Finn asks as he looks over to them.

"Quinn—thinks that I might be infected," Kurt tells them and Rachel gasps.

"No! Kurt—Quinn, how—how do you know for sure?" the smaller brunette questions immediately.

The blonde shakes her head. "I'm just—this is just a guess on my part okay?" she tells everyone as she glances around. "There's not much we know about the zombies—is it caused by bacteria? A virus? Only thing we're sure about it is that it's not an airborne illness, otherwise we'd have all been zombies by now," she explains and Brittany looks at Kurt sadly and he gives her a small smile.

"Yeah—but in those movies, the games, it's only if you're bitten that you become a zombie," Finn adds in.

"Listen, those movies and stuff? Yeah, sure, you can believe them but this is _not_ a movie, Finn," she says as she motions around them. "If it's some kind of virus or something, it could be spread by—by a number of things. The fact that they told us that our water _might_ be contaminated? What exactly is it contaminated with? Is the disease spreading through the water? Did a zombie fall into the water source or something?"

No one knows and they remain quiet as they look over to Kurt who tries to look unaffected.

"All I know is that the blood that got on Kurt—the person was already injured right?" Quinn asks them and they nod. "Was he bitten?"

"Yeah, a zombie had taken a good chunk of his leg before he had escaped earlier," Puck answers her.

"He was already bitten by a zombie, and if his blood was already infected—there are some sicknesses that can be spread through contact with the eyes, the nose, the mouth—and unfortunately that blood was all over Kurt's face. It's true—I'm only speculating and there's maybe a 50% chance that Kurt isn't infected—but we have to make sure, just in case. I don't know how long until _whatever_ happens but—"

"It takes around two days," Santana speaks up as she ignores everyone's questioning glances. "My dad was one of the first to encounter one of the initial patients in the area—it's why they wanted him to volunteer for the evacuation."

Quinn looks at her, thankful for the information. "S, did your dad mention how the disease is spread or anything?"

Santana shakes her head. "No, he only mentioned it 'cause the infected changed so fast—he only told me to be careful."

Quinn nods. "Okay, we have 48 hours then," she tells them quietly. "A little bit less than 48, actually, since a few hours have already passed," she says as she glances at the watch on her wrist. "I'm sorry Kurt, but we're going to need to quarantine you until we're sure you're okay."

Kurt tries to shrug it off as Finn looks at him guiltily.

"This is all my fault—if I hadn't dragged him along this never would have happened," he says.

"Wow, Captain Obvious, is there anything else you'd like to tell us?" Santana asks him mockingly. "Maybe something about how gay Kurt is, or how short Berry is? Even better, maybe you—"

"Hey, maybe if _you_ weren't too busy moping around—"

"Santana! Finn! There are more important matters at hand rather than playing the blaming game!" Rachel shouts out to them.

"That doesn't sound like a fun game," Brittany comments uneasily.

The smaller brunette chooses to ignore her and continues on. "I hope you don't plan on locking him in some room by himself, Quinn, to serve as a means of quarantine," she asks the blonde who shakes her head.

"No, I was just thinking we can keep Kurt up on the school roof. There's enough space there to accommodate one of the cots, and the nights are still kind of cold, but with the moon and stuff he won't feel as confined compared to if he was just placed in one of the classrooms," she tells them and Kurt is relieved because that sounded a lot better than just being shoved into a room.

"That's a splendid idea, Quinn!" Rachel agrees. "I also propose that we establish shifts to keep Kurt company. I know that we should be concentrating on finding a means to escape from here, but it's not his fault that this happened, and I can't imagine how it would feel like to face this all alone."

Kurt looks at her, touched by the sentiment.

"All in favor of taking turns to keep Kurt company?" Quinn asks but she doesn't need to count the votes; it's unanimous.

/-/

"Okay, so me and Rachel should be a team and—"

"And what would be the basis of that decision, Finn?" Rachel asks him as she places her hands on her hips and glares at him.

"Uh, well, I figured since, you know, we haven't had a chance to really spend time together and—"

"Really? And exactly _why_ do you think we haven't, really?"

"Uh..."

Quinn yawns into her freshly washed hands and everyone else sighs as they stand around waiting for Finn and Rachel to finish their argument on who should team up. When Rachel wanted to team up with Finn earlier, he didn't want to team up with her, and now that he wants to team up with her, she doesn't want to team up with him.

They are a frustrating couple, that's for sure.

"Alrights, old ladies, enough of your bickering already," Santana cuts in because she's tired of listening to them. "We'll just use the same teams we had yesterday, simple as that."

"Wait, but—"

"Nuh uh, Finessa! You already lost your chance with this, so suck it up and shut it up already. You don't gets to say _anything_ 'bout this, alright? Who do you thinks to blame for this happening to Kurt anyway?"

Rachel shifts uncomfortably when she hears Santana's accusing words and Quinn knows that she needs to apologize the first chance she gets.

With that it's finally settled and they decide to split the shifts for the first day in six hour increments. Finn and Puck take the first, Santana and Brittany are next for the evening shift and Quinn and Rachel have the early morning shift. The watches Quinn found yesterday are distributed to everyone as a means to keep track of the time and they all set their alarms to their respective time slots.

Everyone helps with the setup on the roof and Kurt's cot, blankets and pillow are carried up and Quinn places a few solar lamps around for use as a night light later.

When they're done, they all gather and sit on the floor of the roof in a circle as they eat their lunch together. Everything feels like a normal meal, except for the gun resting cautiously besides Quinn; in reach just in case.

Despite the circumstances though, Kurt can't help but smile because he never would have figured that all these people would have cared enough about him.

"Thank you," he tells them as tears gather in his eyes.

"Oh, Kurt," Rachel looks at him and it's obvious that she wants to hug him but a hand from Quinn stops her. She merely settles for giving him a smile and he understands.

"It's too bad we couldn't have done this, before, you know," Brittany says as she leans into Santana.

"Yeah," Quinn agrees. "Something about eating on the roof is nice. Freeing, even."

"All that's missing is a good song," Puck says regretfully as he thinks about his discarded guitar in his room. He knows there are still instruments in the school but it doesn't really matter because it's not like they can afford to make much noise anyways.

"We would have been competing in Sectionals soon," Rachel notes wistfully.

"We would have won it, easily," Finn adds in.

Santana scoffs. "Oh please, Finnept, with you and smurfette over there leading the team? We would have crashed faster than you during your driver's ed test."

"Hey, I think—"

"Okay, okay," Quinn interrupts because this is not how they should be spending Kurt's possible last moments.

She finishes off her carrots and places the container down. Everyone else is also done with their food and they all seem reluctant to leave. Quinn looks over to Finn and Puck.

"You guys ready for your shift?" she asks them.

"Yeah," Finn says to her while Puck nods.

"Okay, those of us that have the later shift should get some rest; don't worry, we'll all have our time with Kurt," she tells them.

"Yup, there's enough Kurt Hummel to go around for all!" he jokes and everyone smiles, even Santana, although Brittany and Rachel look like they're about to cry right after.

One by one they all stand and the four girls wave to Kurt before they head down the stairs and back into the school.

"This…this is so messed up," Santana says angrily as they walk through the empty hallways.

No one knows how to respond but they all agree. The situation is definitely spiraling out of their control and it's not the first time that Quinn wishes she wasn't leader.

They make their way out towards the back and step around the bodies as they walk towards the container. Quinn notices that there are no new zombies by the generator and she wonders if the bleach drove them away for good.

Probably not.

Thankfully the back area is still rather empty but Quinn thinks the amount of zombies on the floor in the _front_ is problematic; they'll need to do something about them later. It would be pretty bad if they had to make a run for it and they end up tripping over the dead zombies.

She's just glad it's not summer because she has a feeling that that smell would be worse than the bleach that is still lingering in the air.

Quinn is the last one down the ladder and she closes the hatch before starting her descent. Even with the entrance closed, the walkie-talkies still work from the school roof to inside the shelter, giving them a way of communication in case something happens.

The cheer captain yawns as soon as she finishes her slide down the ladder and the exhaustion hits her head on.

"I'm going to get some sleep for tonight," she tells Santana and Brittany who have settled down at the table with the cats sitting nearby.

They nod and she drags herself into the sleeping area. When she enters, the light is on and Rachel is in the midst of changing into her pajamas and Quinn pauses before stepping further in. She makes her way to the shelf that has her own clothes and with her back to Rachel she changes out of her army uniform and into shorts and a loose shirt.

When Quinn's done she walks over to her bed and she just wants to collapse into it and _sleep_, but her guilty conscience stops her.

Rachel finishes buttoning her shirt and they both stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to say and how the sleeping arrangement should be especially after their argument. The smaller brunette has been eyeing the broken cot besides Finn's but she doesn't want to sleep there, because—it wouldn't be the same.

Just as she's about to move over to the cot though, Quinn's voice stops her.

"I'm sorry," Quinn says softly as she looks at Rachel who stares back at her. She presses on. "I didn't mean what I said earlier, okay? Saying it's your fault—it—I wasn't thinking and was caught up in the moment. We all chose to be here—but the only one who didn't really have a choice was you. You didn't deserve to be thrown in that dumpster—and—and…a lot of the stuff done to you, you didn't deserve that either. I'm really sorry, Rachel."

The smaller brunette opens and closes her mouth a few times because for once in her life she's truly speechless. No one has ever apologized to her—for anything really, and it's obvious that Quinn is apologizing for a lot more than what she said this afternoon.

"I—I…"

Quinn gives her a small smile. "Rachel Berry, having trouble with words? Truly today is one of many firsts."

Rachel looks at her before she quickly looks down and struggles to keep her composure. It's just like this morning and Quinn's making her cry again but for different reasons. The blonde sighs softly and walks across the room and places her arm around Rachel's shoulder before gently guiding her to their bed. The brunette slips in and Quinn grabs the phone from the floor and steps over to turn off the lights. She flips the switch and turns on her makeshift flashlight and almost runs into one of the cots before finally slipping into their shared bed. She feels arms encircle her waist almost immediately as Rachel buries her head into Quinn's shoulder.

Quinn pats her back clumsily and she doesn't even mind that much when her shirt is soaked within minutes.

Eventually, the crying stops and they both fall into a tired sleep.

\-\

"Hey, Kurt," Finn says as he rubs at his neck nervously.

The boy in question has his back towards him and is staring at the view from the roof. From this height they can see the various barricades littered around the area and the many zombies lying down below; evidence of their close encounter with the true nightmare they are facing. He waits a moment before turning to look at his what seems like so long ago, high school crush.

"Yes, Finn?" Kurt asks and he can't help but think how if this was two weeks ago, or even four days ago, he'd be jumping up and down in excitement because Finn Hudson was talking to him, alone. Puck was there of course, standing to the side, but he was being quiet enough to just be part of the background at this moment.

"I'm sorry, man. It—if we had waited for Santana and Brittany this wouldn't have happened and—"

Kurt shakes his head and leans onto the small wall that's the only thing standing between him and an almost fifty foot drop.

"What's done is done, Finn. No use crying over spilled milk," he tells him.

Finn looks at him with his usually confused expression and Kurt chuckles because he still thinks it makes him look adorable.

"So there's a good amount of time before the shift change, what would you like to talk about?" Kurt asks instead.

"Uh," Finn looks at Puck who shrugs. "Whatever you want to talk about."

Kurt smiles and motions to Finn and Puck come closer. "You'll learn that you should never tell that to a gay man with a penchant for dramatics, but since you insist. Gentlemen, be prepared to be enlightened of the world of musicals!"

/-/

The hours easily pass, and Quinn and Rachel are still asleep by the time it's Santana's and Brittany's turn to watch over Kurt.

Puck and Finn drop down into the shelter and they notice it's quiet with no trace of the other two girls. They both head over to the sleeping area to grab a change of clothes and Puck flips on the light and they freeze.

"Whoa, awesome," the football player blurts out as he takes in the view of Rachel wrapped securely around Quinn.

The blonde stirs at the sound and she opens her eyes and squints at the bright light.

"Ugh, what time is it?" she asks as she blinks blearily.

"Stargazing time?" Puck chuckles out and though she's still not fully awake Quinn levels him with a glare and he steps back instinctively.

Finn is still just staring at them and he's torn between feeling turned on or being extremely jealous that Rachel seems so content clutching onto Quinn so closely.

The cheer captain sits up and shakes the other girl awake.

"Rachel, wake up. Rachel. _Berry,_" Quinn says exasperatedly when the girl merely holds her tighter and doesn't move.

"No…" she whines and Quinn reaches over to pinch her nose close and the brunette's eyes suddenly snap open as if she had sensed the danger.

"Whoa," Quinn is surprised and moves her hand away as Rachel blinks at her before sitting up.

"What time is it?" the singer asks as she yawns, feeling amazingly refreshed. She notices Finn and Puck in the room and gives them a smile. "Finn, I see your shift is over and—"

"What were you doing?" Finn asks when the jealousy finally wins out over the mailman.

She stares at him and glances over to Quinn who's straightening her clothes and trying to fix her bed head.

"Sleeping, Finn. It's what one does when they're tired and want to—"

"No, I mean, why were you sharing a bed with Quinn?"

"Okay, that's my cue to leave," Puck says as he disregards his change of clothes and moves back to the Main Room.

"Well, Quinn and I are sharing the bed because it was what was decided on the first day, Finn. You were the one who asked her to share with me."

Quinn knows this conversation is going to reach extreme levels of absurdity and stands to leave the room.

"Yes, but—but why were you sharing with her, right now? I mean, what about that extra cot I found for you!"

Rachel frowns at him, not understanding why he seems so angry. "Besides the fact that the cot is _broken_, Finn, I don't see why you're so upset about this—Quinn and I have been sharing a bed for the past few days already."

"Yes—but I mean, there's so many open beds here, couldn't you have just slept in the other ones?" he asks as he gestures to the empty ones besides them.

Quinn quickly grabs her jacket and pulls it on as she leaves the room. Before she can walk further away she can hear Rachel's response and she wants to roll her eyes.

"Are you—are you _jealous_, Finn?"

The blonde walks into the Main Room and stifles a yawn.

"Looking good there, Fabray," Puck leers at her from the table. He grins at the clear view he has of her legs and she narrows her eyes at him.

"Back off, Puckerman," she says as she glances around the room randomly.

She notes that the solar lights that were still charging earlier on the roof are now placed in a small pile on floor by the useless video games and are glowing lightly. Quinn wonders where the cats are because she notices that they're missing but she disregards it; they had to be in one of the other rooms, there aren't that many places they can hide in anyways.

There's nothing else to do so Quinn takes a seat across from Puck and they sit there quietly as they continue to listen as Rachel and Finn argue from the room nearby.

"So…"

"You, me, shower room. We can finish before they're d—Hey!"

He quickly dodges the spoon she throws at him, but she's smug when the next one hits him on the forehead.

"Ow!"

\-\

"How are you feeling, Kurt?" Brittany asks him as she settles onto the ledge of the roof.

The sun has set and it's dark all around them. The only lights they can see are from the moon, the solar lights that Quinn had set aside, and the faint light coming from the southwest. Santana deliberately ignores _that_ and stands with her back to it while keeping a steady hand on the blonde's her arm, just in case.

Kurt shrugs because he doesn't know how he should feel. Regret? Sadness? Denial? So many emotions keep overwhelming him and at this moment he just feels kind of…blah.

Santana understands that he obviously doesn't want to talk about it and she veers the conversation to something else.

"So, Hummel…" she starts off because she doesn't know how to begin.

"So, Lopez…" he responds.

"So, Pierce…" Brittany says, not understanding what they were doing.

Santana can't help but smile at the blonde and this manages to break the ice.

"How…how was it like, you know? Growing up… uh, knowing you were…gay?" Santana whispers the end of the question but he manages to hear it and looks at her in surprise.

He's wondering if she's making fun of him somehow, but he notices her nervous fidgeting and it suddenly dawns on him.

He always suspected but…

"Well," he says as he gives her a smile. "It…it wasn't always easy… but…"

/-/

When it's finally time for Quinn and Rachel's shift, the blonde is extremely glad to get out of the _whatever_ that had developed in the shelter after Finn and Rachel's weird confrontation in the sleeping area.

Quinn doesn't even know how she was thrown in the crossfire but when the two had emerged from the room, Finn had kept glaring at her and she had eventually snapped at him and then no one was talking to each other because Puck was smart enough to keep to himself.

When the alarm beeps on Quinn's watch she practically shoots out from her seat, already dressed in her uniform, and is grabbing her gun and climbing up and out of the shelter before Rachel can even move.

Santana gives her a questioning look when she sees how eager the cheer captain seems to be taking her shift and Quinn shrugs her shoulders because she doesn't feel like explaining.

They say their goodnights to Kurt, and Santana gives him an appreciative smile which causes Quinn to raise her eyebrow at her but the brunette shrugs as well and then they are disappearing into the school.

"Welcome back to my Hummel abode, ladies," Kurt tells them when it's just the three of them remaining on the roof.

"How are you feeling, Kurt?" Rachel asks him worriedly and Quinn is glad to note that the smaller brunette seems to have left that _whatever_ back at the shelter with Finn.

In the faint light they can see Kurt smile. "I'm feeling that everyone is definitely asking me that question too much," he tells her and Rachel looks at him sheepishly.

"Truthfully though? I don't think it's hitting me yet, not really. Just you wait, tomorrow I'll definitely be panicking, but for now I'm kind of, I guess in a weird limbo. In between the black and white; the second movie before the last in the trilogy, so to speak."

The singer looks at him regretfully. "I'm sorry Kurt, that we were never as close as we could have been. My fathers would have loved to have met you and—"

"No, Rachel," he shakes his head at her. "If anything, I'm the one that should apologize. The reasons we were never that close despite our similar interests are mostly my own fault. I was—I still am, jealous of your incredible talent and I could never put my own green monster aside to pursue what could have been an amazing friendship," he tells her.

Rachel tearfully smiles at him and Quinn remains awkwardly at the side, not sure what she should be doing because she feels like she's intruding in their moment.

"Regardless of what happens though, right now I _can_ tell you that I am feeling rather tired, so I will leave you two to your guarding duties and retire for the night. A lady needs at least 7 hours of sleep for healthy looking skin after all!" he says to them both and moves over to his cot.

"Goodnight Kurt," Quinn and Rachel both tell him.

"Goodnight, Quinn, Rachel," he says to them and then his blankets are pulled around him as he readies for sleep. "Oh, and don't worry about talking amongst yourselves; I can sleep through almost anything but alarm clocks. Those are my only nemesis on my quest for perfect skin. That, and chocolate, but alas, what can you do about that?" he sighs out and then he's quiet.

Quinn shakes her head in amusement as she leans against the ledge wall and then she turns her attention above her. No matter how much she has already stared at it, she still feels like she can get lost in the beauty of the night.

Rachel settles in right besides her and Quinn debates momentarily, wondering if she should try and hold a conversation with the other girl, otherwise it's going to be a long six hour shift.

"So, Rachel, uhm, you mentioned before you used to stargaze a lot?" the blonde whispers to her and she can hear the brunette shift lightly.

"Yes, Quinn, I did," she answers her softly.

"So, you'd consider yourself to be like, a pro at identifying the constellations or something?"

Rachel regards her for a moment, as if she's determining whether or not Quinn is sincerely asking her. Just as the blonde is about to tell her to forget it, Rachel gives her a smile and moves closer so that their elbows are almost touching.

She lifts her arm and points to a random part of the sky. "You see those three stars aligned over there? That one is called Orion's belt."

Quinn tries to follow where she's referring to and points to the sky. "Those ones?"

"No, Quinn!" Rachel immediately scolds her and grabs the blonde's arm, pulling her down a bit so that they're both at the same eye level. "Follow where my arm is pointing, and—"

"There?"

"No, are you even paying attention?"

"If that's just his belt, where's the rest of him then?"

"Oh, well, the three stars for his belt are used as reference points since they're the easiest to identify and those stars over there…"

_Time left: 33 hours._


	8. 33 to 10

**A/N: **Well. **Sorry** for the delay. I met up with this old friend of mine and I hung out with them for a while. That darn **Lazy**, always so insistent. (Yeah I totally was just too **lazy** to write:)

**Thank you so much for the reviews**! Glad some ppl still like this even though it's reaching levels of ridiculousness(didn't i already say that for the previous author's note...). But, meh. Huhu. Thank you too, to whomever decided to rec this fic somewhere :) i noticed that there was an influx of readers even though i hadn't updated in years-I mean in days(weeks). So thank you for that! (even though zombie fics aren't everyone's cup of tea or cup of coffee. Even though coffee is delicious, but zombies, not so much)

**And geez this chapter is long.** I say this _every_ chapter and I'm pretty sure by the time the story ends the chapter is gonna be 20k+ words. 30k? And the next update will take a month. I don't know what I'm writing anymore :( be sad.

\

\\

\\\

Quinn shivers lightly and tries to move closer to Rachel despite them already being as close as they possibly can be. The blonde doesn't know if it's the higher elevation or what, but it's extremely chilly tonight and she wishes they had the foresight to bring up an extra blanket as well. She's wondering if there's a possible storm rolling in or something because it definitely wasn't this cold earlier.

She hopes not.

But there's no extra blanket and she and the brunette have resorted to huddling close together, backs against the brick wall in one of the corners as they try to block out the biting wind that's sweeping across the roof.

Kurt however, doesn't seem affected at all, tucked into his thick blanket and is still sleeping soundly in his warm cot. Quinn is half tempted to use the radio to tell one of the others to bring something so that they don't end up freezing to death up here.

She doesn't though, because there's only like two hours of their shift left and they've held out for this long already, so what's a little bit more?

"Quinn," Rachel calls her out from her thoughts and the blonde turns slightly to regard the brunette. "It's your turn."

Quinn nods and tries to think of something to ask the other girl.

After Rachel had practically named the entire night sky map (which Quinn more or less can't remember), the two had switched topics and had started a random game that was reminiscent of twenty questions. Instead of twenty though, they each asked five questions at a time with the option of passing any that they didn't feel comfortable answering. They would stop once their shift ended or if Kurt woke up, whichever happened first.

It's mostly to keep them from falling asleep as well as a distraction from the cold, and it's kind of working, for the most part. Except when one of them has trouble thinking of something and then they get sidetracked and the cold starts seeping in again and then—

Rachel nudges Quinn because she's taking too long again and the blonde blinks and shifts a bit before she breathes out slowly.

They can both see the mist form in the air in front of her (that's how cold it is) and Quinn settles on the first thing that pops into her head.

"You're Jewish, right?" she blurts out suddenly.

Rachel pauses and glances to the blonde briefly before she answers.

"Yes, Quinn. I am Jewish."

One.

Quinn nods because it's not like she didn't know that. Last year, Rachel had lobbied to try and start a Jewish club in McKinley and Santana had made sure to draw on all the fliers that were in the hallways.

"Well," the blonde pauses as she tries to remember what she knows about Jewish people, which isn't much at all. She can only recall the hateful things her father had told her and that was mostly about them living a life of sin. "I know you guys don't believe in stuff like Jesus and the messiah, but you do believe in God though, at least, I think you do, right?"

Rachel feels like she should be offended but answers anyway because she's interested to where Quinn is taking this.

"Despite what notions and misconceptions you may have about Judaism, it is a real and very prominent religious community _and_ lifestyle. Of course we believe in God, and although we don't believe in Jesus as being the messiah, we _do_ believe that one exists. We're still waiting for them to arrive though," she sighs because she doesn't really want to get into a debate on this subject. "God is God, Quinn. And no matter how many people may claim that their God is better, I'd like to believe that we all can trust in what we want to equally. Whether you're Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or even those that don't believe and are Atheist or even Agnostic. Claiming that they're sinners because they don't believe in the same things as you—that's not very tolerable, at all."

Two.

Quinn is quiet as she lets this sink in. The smaller brunette immediately wonders if she has offended the blonde somehow; she knows that Quinn is devout to some extent; the cross she always wears around her neck has to account for something, right?

Quinn, on the other hand, is merely hesitating in asking her next question. She's not upset by what Rachel has just told her; the blonde truthfully feels that anyone can believe in what they want to. She just doesn't know if she's going to sound stupid with what she wants to ask next. At least Rachel confirmed that she believed in God otherwise she would've dropped her next question completely.

Just as Rachel's about to maybe defend herself to Quinn, the cheer captain decides to just get it over with and her next words catch Rachel off guard.

"Do…do you think God's punishing us, somehow?" Quinn asks softly.

Three.

The singer doesn't know how to respond as she sits up to face the blonde fully. Quinn avoids her gaze and in the dim light, Rachel can see her fiddling with the golden chain around her neck.

The brunette sighs softly as she gathers her thoughts and weighs her options. She can choose to ignore this question and they can move on…or… or, she can try to answer it and maybe offer the blonde some kind of solace on an issue that has no doubt been bothering her for some time now.

Rachel settles back against the wall, pulling herself closer to the other girl until her head is resting on the blonde's shoulder.

"Do you think God's punishing us, Quinn?" she asks her gently.

"You're not supposed to answer a question with another question," Quinn tries to joke and Rachel nods because that was also one of the established rules.

She hesitates though, on what to say, because she wants to ease Quinn's doubts but she doesn't know how. "I think…Well, that's a difficult question to answer, Quinn. A lot of people believe that divine punishment exists in a plethora of ways: sickness, plague, war…"

"Zombies?" the cheer captain adds in.

"Maybe, maybe not," Rachel tells her. "I know that this situation we're in, it…well there's no other way to put it: it definitely sucks. And—and I know I may sound a little bit crazy and selfish in saying this, but in a way I'm—I'm kind of glad, though, that we're here."

Rachel knows that Quinn is looking at her now and when she lifts her head to match the blonde's scrutiny, she's glad that there's only curiosity and not disgust on her face.

The brunette gives her a sad smile before she lowers and rests her head once more on Quinn's shoulder. "When…when they threw me in the dumpster…I won't lie, I knew that no one was going to come look for me. My Dad and Daddy would have, naturally, but they aren't here. And Finn… Finn's a great boyfriend—for the most part—a-and he means well, but he's still a teenager—we're all teenagers and we're still at that age where it feels like the world revolves around us. I mean, especially with my talents of course the world would revolve around _me_—but…I know that I'm not top priority in his life, just like he isn't in mine, even though we'd like to believe we are. That whole time, I was just waiting for my phone to stop ringing because I knew that it eventually would," her voice cracks slightly from the emotion and Quinn silently leans her head down against Rachel's in a comforting gesture. "And I hoped, Quinn, that somehow—_someone_ would come save me. And when Finn opened that lid and he and Puck were looking at me, and then I saw y-you and Santana and Brittany and Kurt—it felt like, someone had heard me and was showing me that I wasn't all alone."

The blonde doesn't have a response and the necklace drops as she lets go. She reaches for the smaller brunette's hand and their fingers intertwine because this is the most she can offer.

"Zombies and everything," the singer whispers out. "I highly doubt that God would commend this kind of catastrophe—this—this is more likely the work of some highly unethical biological weapon that's gone awry—or maybe some type of microscopic mutation on a rampage. If anything, it may be mankind punishing mankind. Regardless though, it—I think, Quinn, that if anything, God may be testing us, not punishing us."

"What makes you say that, Rach," Quinn questions her quietly.

The brunette pauses at the shortening of her name but decides she likes it and smiles softly. "Sometimes, you never know what you have until it's gone," she recites.

"...Learn to appreciate the small things in life?"

"Live everyday like it's your last."

"Take nothing for granted."

"Stop and smell the roses."

"Uhh…life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get?"

"…Quinn, did you just quote Forrest Gump?"

The blonde feels herself smirk slightly even as Rachel pokes her on the side.

"Yeah, it's a classic inspiring life quote, you know," she tells the brunette and even though she can't see her face she knows Rachel is most likely frowning.

Rachel ignores her and continues to add to their list. "The best things in life are free."

"Uhm…" Quinn seriously doesn't know how Rachel knows all these but then she recalls all those constellations Rachel had named and shakes her head. She grins though when she remembers a shirt she saw in an online store that seems appropriate.

"Real friends help you kill zombies."

Rachel sits up quickly, almost knocking her head into Quinn's jaw and the blonde moves away as the brunette turns to her.

"That, is _not_ a life inspiring quote," Rachel rebukes her and Quinn grins wider.

"No, but it applies to the situation though." She frowns. "Scarily so, actually."

The singer looks at her and is about to say something but stops as a thought occurs to her. "D…does that mean, you consider me to be your friend?" she asks shyly.

Quinn blinks as she leans her head back onto the wall and mulls over the question. Just a few days ago, her and Rachel were 'enemies' and now here they are, in the middle of an apocalypse with only each other and a handful of people to hold on to.

"I...Yeah, I guess we are. Friends," she tells her.

Rachel can't help the grin forming on her face as she mimics Quinn and sits back as well.

"While there's life, there's hope."

"…Are we really seriously still doing this? Oh, I know a good one. Never talk back to Coach Sylvester."

"Quinn—that is not—"

"Never steal Mr. Shue's hairspray."

"Quinn—"

"Or Santana's breadsticks."

"That doesn't—"

Quinn playfully bumps shoulders with the other girl. "Come on, I _know_ you have some wisdom you'll need to pass on to me."

Rachel huffs softly, because she actually had a few more idioms she wanted to use but the switch of topics to something more lighthearted is deliberate on Quinn's part, she knows. So she concedes and tries to think of something. She's embarrassed that there's only one thing that comes to mind but says it anyways.

"Never mess with the Cheerios."

Quinn smiles.

/-/

Time easily passes and before they know it, the stars are fading and the dark sky overhead is slowly turning into daylight. Pretty soon it'll be time for Finn and Puck to come switch shifts and Quinn can't wait because even with their diversions, she's still freezing cold and she really wants to hibernate in her cot and catch up on some serious sleep.

She yawns and pokes Rachel awake. "You're falling asleep."

"….I'm not falling asleep," the brunette mumbles as she swats Quinn's hand away.

"Yesssssssss… you areeeeeee," Quinn draws out the words and she wonders if she's delirious because she thinks that sounds kind of funny.

"….nooooo…" Rachel denies and the blonde rolls her eyes and is about to prod her again when she spots movement across to where Kurt's cot is.

She narrows her eyes and none too gently shakes Rachel awake.

"Wha—"

"Shh," Quinn quickly hushes her and the brunette can hear the urgency in her voice as she straightens up to blink sleepily at the cheer captain.

Quinn nods over to the figure that is slowly sitting up in bed and Rachel's eyes follow her movement and her heart skips a beat when she sees that Kurt's awake. She gestures, silently asking if he's still all _there_ and Quinn shrugs because she doesn't know. The blonde quietly reaches over and grabs her weapon while Rachel picks up her own and they carefully move to stand on their feet.

Rachel has her rifle pointed on Kurt and Quinn glances to her before she calls out.

"Kurt?"

There's no reply and they're unable to see his face clearly with the low lighting and all the shadows.

"Kurt?" Rachel tries and makes sure her voice carries over and across the roof.

This time he reacts and he turns to face them before letting out a huge yawn.

"Mornin'," he greets them and misses Quinn and Rachel lowering their weapons as he stretches high and above.

Both girls sigh in relief and Quinn slings her gun strap over her head before she leans against the brick ledge, taking the opportunity to stretch out her legs. Rachel shoulders her own rifle and starts making her way over to Kurt.

"What happened to alarm clocks being your only nemesis to beauty sleep, Kurt?" the smaller girl asks him when she's close enough.

He places his arms down and throws off his blanket but changes his mind when the cold hits him almost immediately.

"Brr!" he says instead of answering as he grabs the material and covers himself once more. "I'm surprised you two aren't popsicles by now!"

"Frankly, so am I," Rachel agrees as she's reminded of the cold temperature. She involuntarily shivers and Kurt looks at her worriedly.

"I would offer to share, but I'm not sure how safe it would be, considering," he tells her.

Rachel is about to reply when Quinn brushes past her and makes her way to Kurt's cot.

"Normally, I'd advise against sharing a bed with someone who is possibly infected with a zombie virus, but it's so cold up here that I think I'll take the risk," the blonde says as she takes a seat on the bed.

"Quinn! That is extremely dangerous. We-we don't know when or if he'll turn and what if it's somehow able to pass by—"

"Just so you know, we've already been exposed to him for hours now, Rachel. If the disease is spread through by just contact, we're already screwed. I think as long as he doesn't suddenly bleed on us we should be fine," Quinn tells her. She turns to Kurt. "You don't feel like biting me right now do you, Kurt?"

He shakes his head and Quinn nods, satisfied with the answer.

Kurt stares before hesitantly offering her some of his blanket. The cheer captain immediately wraps it around herself and revels at the warmth.

A full minute passes and Rachel's just gawking at the two and then there's another gust of wind before she's moving and practically jumping onto Quinn's lap.

"Scoot over, Quinn!" Rachel yells out as she tries to take the spot in between Quinn and Kurt for extra warmth.

"Scoot over yourself, Berry," Quinn grunts out when Rachel almost elbows her in the eye. The singer shrieks when the blonde grabs her by the waist and easily swings her over to the side.

"Your abnormal cheerleading strength is rather unfair," the brunette tells her as she pouts from her new spot besides Quinn.

"Whatever," Quinn replies even as she offers Rachel some of the blanket. The brunette eagerly accepts and then all three of them are bundled together as they watch the sky continue to lighten up.

"I wonder if it's going to rain," Kurt comments idly. There are definitely a lot more clouds in the sky today.

Rachel frowns. "I hope not… there are gallons of bleach on the floor, not to mention all those dead zombies everywhere; the runoff from the rain will no doubt pollute our water source even further."

"I think it's a little too late to be worrying about our water source at this point," Quinn answers dryly.

"What I wouldn't give for a hot shower," Kurt says morosely.

"Oh, don't even mention hot water, Kurt," Rachel shakes her head at the thought of having running water once more; it seems like it's been years since they've been trapped here.

He looks at her but complies because maybe by tomorrow he won't need to worry about showers anymore.

Rachel sighs and presses herself closer to Quinn for more warmth.

Kurt notices the action and notices that Quinn's just ignoring it, like it's nothing that _Rachel Berry_ is totally invading her personal space.

"Interesting," he mutters out and the other two choose to disregard him.

Just as Rachel feels herself being lulled into a comfortable sleep, Quinn's voice breaks the silence and she's nudging the brunette awake.

"Sun's rising," the blonde tells her and Rachel is tempted to sleep right through it but a few more incessant pokes from Quinn tells her that she shouldn't. She forces her eyes open and is surprised to see the gentle smile on the cheer captain's face.

Quinn glances over at her. "Every cloud has a silver lining," she says softly and Rachel can't help but chuckle in response.

Kurt knows he's missing out on something but he's too weirded out that the other two seem to be getting along.

It makes him think though, that maybe miracles _do_ happen.

/-/

"Is it bad, that I don't want to leave?" Rachel whines as she snuggles deeper into the cot. She's the only one lying down and Quinn and Kurt are both sitting as they wait for the alarm to go off, signaling the end of the shift.

Quinn shrugs because now that she's defrosted she doesn't mind being up here as well. Kurt remains quiet and she turns to him, observing as he continues to stare straight ahead at the now bleached sky. There are dark clouds that they can see in the distance that has Quinn worried, but she ignores them for now.

"Penny for your thoughts?" the blonde nudges Kurt and he startles, as if he had forgotten where he was.

"Oh," he says softly and turns to see both Quinn and Rachel watching him.

He gives them a half smile. "I was just, you know, memorizing this in my mind, just in case," he explains as he gestures to the sky.

Quinn nods in understanding.

Rachel sits up suddenly and throws off the blanket before standing. She pulls out her phone from her pockets and holds it up for the other two to see.

"We should take a picture!" she announces and Quinn and Kurt both stare at her like she's grown another head. "I am serious! Here, my cell phone has a camera—and I've never had any pictures taken with any of my friends, except for Finn…and, well…" she helplessly looks around, her voice trailing off.

Kurt looks uncertain, not sure if he wants to agree. He loves pictures though, so he's tempted.

Quinn rolls her eyes but sighs. "If you want, I'm sure we can probably find a better camera in the AV room. There has to be some equipment left in there," she offers.

Kurt swivels and looks at her in surprise and the blonde dismisses it before she throws off her part of the blanket to stand up.

"We could set up a tripod too, and get in a group shot later," Quinn tells them as she stretches.

Rachel looks excited at the proposal and Kurt shakes his head.

"I have stepped into the Twilight Zone or something," he decides, because it's definitely _beyond_ weird. Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray are getting along and there are no drugs involved. At least, he didn't think there were any.

"Would you mind, if we just took a picture, with just the three of us though, now? On my phone?" Rachel asks bashfully and Kurt thinks that he must be experiencing post-traumatic symptoms because even he can't seem to deny her request.

"Alright, sign me up on this one way track to _crazy_," Kurt declares as he extracts himself from his warm cocoon (i.e. his cot) and gets to his feet. He's pleased to note that with the sunlight out it's starting to warm up a bit and it's not as cold as it was earlier.

Rachel beams happily and Quinn and Kurt exchange small smiles before the brunette quickly pushes them to stand at the 'perfect location.' The sky is placed in their background as they position themselves with Rachel in the middle, Kurt on her left and Quinn on her right.

Rachel and Kurt easily switch to diva mode and they use Kurt's pocket mirror to try their hardest to fix and pat down their hair while Quinn watches them from the side.

When they deem themselves camera ready, Kurt is assigned the task of photographer since his arms are the longest between the three and he holds the phone out in front of them.

"Say Gucci!" he tells them before he pushes the button.

Rachel's and Kurt's smiles are wide and perfect as the shutter goes off.

"Let's see!" the small brunette says eagerly as she reaches to grab the phone from Kurt.

"Hold your horses," he says flippantly and turns the phone so they can see the screen and the picture.

"_Quinn!"_ Rachel immediately reprimands the blonde when she sees the photo: the cheer captain is the only one not smiling and she has her eyebrows raised and is giving them both an incredulous look.

"What? You should have seriously seen yourselves. It was way creepy."

It only takes them five more tries before Quinn finally gives in and smiles for real and five more tries _after_ that until Rachel's finally satisfied with their photo. She hesitates for a second, her finger hovering on the button before she presses it and sets the picture as her phone's new wallpaper, replacing the earlier one she had of her and Finn together.

She also keeps the previous so called 'defective' photos, storing them in the memory card for safe keeping.

Just as Kurt's about to ask her _how_ her phone's battery is still at full power, there's the sound of static and Santana's voice is speaking to them just as the alarm on the watch goes off.

_*_**Static**_*_

"_Hey, you guys all awake and not dead?"_

Quinn rolls her eyes and grabs the radio from her belt before handing it to Kurt. She turns off the alarm as he pushes the talk button.

"Yes, Santana. I _am_ feeling fine right now and _no_, I did not end up killing them in the middle of the night. Thank you for your concern," he tells her sarcastically.

"_Well, good to know, I guess. We have a problem though, so you should gets down here."_

_*_**Static**_*_

"Seriously, only a saint would be able to put up with her," Kurt mutters as he gives the walkie-talkie back to Quinn.

Quinn nods in agreement as she slips the device back into the pocket. "Yup. Good thing she already found one."

/-/

When they open the back door to the school, Santana and Brittany and Finn greet them as they step outside. Quinn notices that Puck is missing and Santana points over to the generator where they can see the football player examining the metal container. There are also no new zombies around and this has Quinn on high alert.

"Electricity is out inside the shelter," Santana tells them before Rachel can ask. "Puck thinks it's the generator so he's checking it out."

The blonde nods because she knew eventually they'd need to do maintenance; guess pretending that it didn't need it wouldn't work after all.

"Do you know when it went out?" Quinn asks.

Santana responds with shrug. "Was still working fine before we went to sleep."

"How are you feeling, Kurt?" Finn turns to him and he shrugs.

"Not any different from yesterday, actually," he answers. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be experiencing any symptoms, but I am feeling a bit peckish, if that's anything to go by."

"Uh, does that mean you're turning into a zombie?" Finn asks as he steps back.

"I think it means he's turning into a bird," Brittany says as she looks Kurt over. "I think that would be better than turning into a zombie."

"No, Britts," Santana shakes her head patiently even as Kurt sends her a knowing look. She's so smitten. "It means he's feeling hungry."

"Oh god, does that mean he wants to eat like, birds?"

"No, Finn, that is ridiculous," Rachel cuts in.

"Does that mean if I turn into a zombie I'll want to eat birds too?" the taller blonde asks and Santana turns to her cheer captain for help.

Quinn, however, ignores them and glances around. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. I'm gonna help Puck, see if we can see what's wrong with the generator. The rest of you, I want you to be on the lookout for zombies. Normally we'd have at least ten of them out here around the generator by now, and I'd like to believe that we've somehow driven them away, but I highly doubt it."

"Do you think they're hidden among the masses?" Rachel asks nervously as she thinks of the enormous amount of corpses in the front.

"Yeah," Quinn nods. "So tread lightly. Finn," she turns to him and ignores the glare that he sends her way. Guess he's still mad at _whatever_ but she's too tired to care. "I want you watching Kurt as well, just in case. Rachel, if you're tired you can go sleep in the shelter and take a break; we still have the shift tonight too and four people should be enough to keep a guard, unless a mob like yesterday appears again."

The smaller brunette shakes her head. "It's alright, Quinn. I think I can manage for a few more hours. Plus, it wouldn't be entirely fair if I was able to rest my eyes while you're still awake and—"

"Okay, she gets it, we gets it," Santana interrupts before Rachel can continue her bad habit of long speeches.

"Alright, but if you get sleepy just go back into the shelter. Call me if you see anything," Quinn tells them.

They nod at her before she starts walking over to the generator and they start making their way to the front.

"…Do you think it still smells?" Brittany asks anxiously.

Everyone shudders and crosses their fingers.

\-\

"Puckerman." Quinn nods to him when she's within earshot.

The football player straightens out and grins at her. "I knew you'd eventually fall for my boyish charms and devilish looks. We can head on over to the school and—"

"As if," the cheerleader scoffs at him as she approaches him from the side. "Think you can fix it?" she asks, gesturing to the machine.

He runs his hands through his mohawk before he shrugs. "Seems easy enough. Looks like it automatically shut down because it's low on engine oil and coolant. The filters need to be replaced too," he says as he points to certain parts of the generator.

"There are some down in the storage room," Quinn tells him as her eyes try to make sense of what she's seeing. She doesn't really care to know about the mechanics but knows that the information is vital, in case something happens and Puck… well, in case something happens.

"It's already cooled down too, so we can drain the rest of the oil, replace it, add coolant, switch out the filters and this thing will be up and running in an hour or so."

"Cooled down?" she asks curiously.

"Yeah," he states as he starts uncapping one of the tubes. "This thing is similar to a car engine except there's an extra step to how it makes electricity. The engine part has constant movement inside that produces heat when the fuel burns off. That constant motion is then converted into electricity."

Quinn raises her eyebrow at him at how...smart... he sounds. He notices her gaze and smirks.

"Don't go falling in love with me, babe; I'll only break your heart," he warns her and she rolls her eyes in response.

"How hot would you say the area around here gets?"

He glances at her briefly before turning back to the generator. "Smoking hot. A machine this size has to be at least around three hundred degrees. Maybe even more. You definitely don't want to be touching any part of it until after it cools off. The heat from the exhaust too, when it's running, would be pretty high as well."

"I see," Quinn says as she considers this information.

"Why? You think it means something?" he asks her as he starts removing the cap for the engine oil tank.

"Not sure, but it's something to think about," she replies as she glances around the empty parking lot. "I'll go grab the oil and the filters."

"There should be two different filters; one for oil and one for air. Don't forget to bring up the coolant too," Puck tells her absently but he looks up suddenly. "Actually maybe I should get everything. It might be too heavy for you and—"

Quinn glares at him and he holds his hands up in defense.

"Okay, you can get them then. I'll stay here and drain the oil first. Don't miss me too much, babe."

"Whatever," Quinn grumbles at him before she starts walking over to the ISO container. She stifles a yawn and thinks that maybe she should have had him grab the stuff instead. But it's too late and Santana's not the only one with pride issues.

/-/

"Can we talk?"

Rachel looks up from where she's tinkering with the ammo case because it seems to be stuck and sighs when she realizes that Finn was talking to her.

Of course.

"Finn, you should be keeping guard and watching Kurt," she tells him and smiles lightly when the magazine clicks in properly, making her weapon now fully reloaded.

The football captain looks around to all the _dead_ unmoving zombies; everything looks okay so far and he's not even sure why Quinn seemed so paranoid. Okay, so maybe they were attacked by a mob yesterday but they already took care of that, didn't they?

"They're all _dead_…undead. Whatever. Please, Rachel?" he begs her and she frowns.

She glances at him and looks over to where Kurt, Santana and Brittany are standing and chatting. "Quinn told us to keep a lookout, Finn, and it would be in our best interest to—"

"We don't need _five_ people keeping a lookout for nothing, okay?" he tells her, obviously getting frustrated. "Quinn's over there messing around with Puck and the generator anyways, and I'm only asking you if we can talk. We'll still be around here. Just—" he searches for a more private spot that seems the least riddled with zombies and points to the area that leads to the back dumpsters. "Over there. Please? At least let me apologize."

Rachel doesn't want to agree, but knows she should because they need to work out this misunderstanding.

"Alright," she decides after a beat. "I do agree that you need to apologize for your actions. Let me just inform Santana of our proceedings and we will discuss this like two civilized adults."

Finn merely nods and watches as she goes to tell Santana. They're far enough that he can't hear what's being said but the scowl on the cheerleader's face already gives him a hint that she doesn't care.

Rachel says a few more words and turns back and then she and Finn are walking over to their designated discussion spot, stepping over the few prone zombies that are in their way.

When they're there, the smaller brunette looks at him expectantly, and he clears his throat nervously.

"I'm sorry, Rachel," he apologizes and she stares, as if she's waiting for more. When she realizes that that's _all_ that he wants to say she shakes her head.

"Do you even know why I was so mad, Finn?"

"Uh, because I was jealous that you were sharing a bed with Quinn?"

"And?"

"Annnnnnd…uh, it was insensitive of me to be jealous?"

Rachel blinks at him before she takes a deep breath, trying to calm her annoyance. She counts backwards as she continues her breathing exercises and Finn doesn't know why she's quiet but he knows it's not a good thing.

When the singer finally feels that she's the essence of calm she gives him a smile and he responds with a dopey quirk of his lips.

"Alright Finn, since I feel that I should elaborate on this subject, I'm going to explain to you _exactly_ why I'm upset with you and I would like you to pay attention as I break this down, point by point, for you."

"Point by point?" he asks fearfully.

"Point by point."

/-/

"What do you think they're talking about?" Kurt asks as he looks over to where the happy couple is at.

Santana seems disinterested as her eyes gloss over in their direction before she shrugs. "Who knows. But something definitely happened yesterday during mine and Britt's shift; even Q was acting kind of wonky."

"Finn's jealous," Brittany answers easily and they both turn to the taller blonde. They watch as she continues to unload and reload her gun out of boredom.

"What's Frankenteen jealous of?" Santana asks as she crosses her arms across her chest.

"Not what, but who," Brittany says as she glances up to Santana. "Finn's jealous because Q and Rachel are friends now."

"Ew! What?" the taller brunette looks scandalized.

"It's true," Kurt informs her. "It was…disturbing, to say the least, when I saw them this morning. They were smiling at each other and everything."

"Ugh," Santana shudders as she stares to where Rachel's talking down to Finn despite their obvious height difference. "That's, just wrong."

"I think it's nice," Brittany says, smiling. "They both deserve someone they can be close to. Kind of like me and you, San."

Santana shoots the blonde a questioning look but Brittany merely grins before she's turning back to her gun.

"Huh," is all Kurt can say to that.

\-\

It takes her two trips to transport all the materials and she's rolling her shoulders when she finally deposits the oil containers next to the coolant on the floor. But she's satisfied that she was able to carry it all and Puck makes the right decision to keep silent and to just start working on refilling the machine.

Quinn makes a note which area the oil goes in and then she's turning away and scanning the area. It's quiet without the constant hum of the generator motor and the blonde wonders if it really is the noise that's attracting the zombies to this spot.

"So, Quinn. What's up with you and Rachel?" Puck asks her as he starts pouring in the new oil.

Quinn's zoning out and misses the question completely. "What?"

"You and Rachel. You guys friends now or something?"

The cheer captain narrows her eyes at him, trying to determine if he's implying something. "And what's it to you?"

"Whoa, calm down," Puck tells her when he catches the tone in her voice. "I just—you know, it's—just cool. That you're friends. She could use some friends."

She watches as he places down the bottle and peers inside the tank to check the oil level. When he straightens up he notices her looking at him and leers.

"Seriously, we could be—"

"Seriously, as if," Quinn quickly retorts.

"It's your lost," he shrugs his shoulders before he reaches for the bottle again and starts pouring once more.

The blonde tries to suppress another yawn and realizes she's going to fall asleep on her feet if this keeps up. So she decides to ask her own questions.

"What about you and Rachel?"

"What about us?" Puck asks distractedly as he empties out the container before placing it aside and reaching for another one.

"You're all—nice and stuff, to her," Quinn tries to explain. "You still act like you're a pig, of course, but I've seen the way you interact with her—you're a lot nicer to her now than at school."

The mohawked boy twists off the lid and glances at Quinn before he continues to add to the tank. "We're both Jews," he tells her as if it clarifies everything.

Quinn rolls her eyes. "Okay…and what does that have to do with anything?"

Puck snorts and lowers the bottle. "It has everything to do with it!" He sincerely looks insulted. "Seriously, if you ever plan to hook up with me in the future, you'll definitely need to know about Jews." He pauses. "Or, if you ever plan to hook up with Rachel."

He grins. She glares and deliberately shifts so that her gun is pointing at him. Immediately his face drops because he doesn't want to die yet.

"Man, sometimes I forget that you only transferred here like a couple years ago, especially considering how you have everyone eating out of your hands," he mutters out as she waits for an explanation.

He finishes the bottle and chucks the plastic container away and turns to face Quinn. "Me and Rachel are both Jews, hot ones at that by the way, and the Jewish community in Lima's pretty small, so of course everyone there knows each other. Once you're a Jew, you're a Jew for life and there's not much of us, you know? So us Jews gotta stick together."

"Sounds like the Mafia…" Quinn mumbles out. "Okay, I get that but you guys didn't even talk or hang out really before. And you _threw_ slushies at her too. Did you have a fall out or something?"

Puck looks regretful as he runs his hands through his mohawk. "Nah, it's nothing like that."

Quinn's intrigued now so she presses on. "What happened?"

The football player raises his eyebrow and gestures to his body. "This happened. Puberty happened. Girls happened."

The blonde leans against the metal casing and lifts her own eyebrow at him.

"Rachel—she's a good friend, you know?" he explains. "Talks too much sometimes, and has that problem with using all those big words and sometimes she likes to butt in too much—but she was like one of the few who never cared that I didn't really have a dad. So we were cool."

"You say all this but you're the one who still dropped her," Quinn points out and he sighs.

"Yeah—she's great, but she was just killing my game! I swear, she's been wearing those animal sweaters since kindergarten. Those short skirts of hers are hot but man, girls were starting to avoid _me_, the Puckasaurus, because of her!"

Quinn's quiet as she muses this over. "So you stopped talking to one of your childhood friends for the opportunity to chase even more skirts," she concludes and Puck looks slightly guilty.

"Yeah, I guess if you put it that way it sounds kind of bad."

"But even when Finn started dating her, which sort of made hanging out with you a default, you never really talked to her either."

"What, were you watching me the whole time?" Puck asks, looking smug and Quinn glares at him. "Or, were you watching Rachel?" he smirks and the blonde silently reaches over and clicks off the safety.

"Okay, okay!" he tells her and she gives him a dangerous look before she turns back on the safety and he gulps nervously. "Yeah, and he was dating her and well, you know Finn, he gets jealous easy."

"Yeah," Quinn agrees because it was one of his many flaws.

"He's my bro, you know? And yeah, maybe I could've talked to her about our Call of Duty marathons, but I didn't want to deal with that and she likes him enough, so that was okay."

Quinn shakes her head in exasperation at his reasoning and watches as he starts switching out the old filters for the new ones. She continues to stare and blinks as she realizes something.

Compared to Finn, Puck is a lot more considerate of Rachel—minus the whole slushie throwing business. But Quinn knows that although Finn never participated in those, he also never stepped in to help stop them. That meant standing up to Azimio and Karofsky and that was still beyond him since they never took him seriously even if he was football captain.

She also knows that Finn is usually too obsessed with his games and himself most of the time to think of others. She _did_ date him after all.

She thinks that she might be making assumptions here but she has a feeling that she's right.

So she says it.

"Finn's not the one who wanted to look for Rachel when she was missing, was he?"

The filter almost slips from Puck's fingers as he quickly glances up. He doesn't say anything but his face completely gives it all away.

/-/

"...but mostly I'm disappointed in you, Finn. Because out of everyone, I thought that you would have been glad that Quinn and I have reached a mutual agreement and are becoming friends," Rachel tells him.

"There it is! Don't you think there's something wrong with that statement, Rachel?" he asks her angrily. "It's _Quinn_ _Fabray_, Ice Queen of McKinley High and the girl who single handedly made your high school life a living nightmare! I'm just worried about you—you don't know Quinn, Rachel. She's—she's not someone you should trust!"

Rachel frowns as she tries to brush aside her irritation. "We have already put those _things_ behind us—she has apologized, very sincerely I might add, and I have accepted it wholeheartedly. It's a thing of the past and—"

"Why are you so naïve? What will it take for you to understand that you _can't_ trust her? I'll bet you anything that she's planning something—both her and Santana!"

"And what would they be planning?" she asks harshly.

Finn throws his hands up. "I don't know! Maybe they're going to use you as a sacrifice—or something. I just—don't—"

"So you're saying that Quinn has helped me—helped _all_ of us, for her own selfish reasons. And she's offered us shelter and protection from those blood thirsty zombies because she's secretly planning to kill us all later even though she could have easily just done so at any point in time with her rifle."

"I-I don't know!"

"Maybe we should talk again, Finn, when you _do_ know what you're trying to imply. What I'm trying to understand here is why you're so jealous of someone who was once your ex-girlfriend. Does she have some kind of blackmail material to hold against you?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Then I can't comprehend why you feel so threatened by Quinn's presence; I understand that dating her may have given you an inferiority complex considering just how strong a character Quinn is but—"

"What? I'm not scared of her—what are you—"

"Then help me understand _why_ you feel this way against her, Finn," Rachel says as she looks at him disappointedly.

Finn wants to kick something, because he's getting so aggravated and he's not good with words like Rachel is and he doesn't know how to explain it. He looks down to his hands and deflates.

"I…I guess I'm just jealous, of her, in general," he confesses quietly. "She's doing such a great job of being Team Leader—and then she's _there_ for you when it should be _me_ and she's _there_ for everyone and she just knows all this stuff and how can I compete with that?"

Rachel gently places a hand on his arm. "It's not a competition, Finn. We're all here and we're all fighting for our lives—and we're lucky that Quinn is here to help lead us."

"See! That's what I'm talking about! It's always _Quinn_ this and _Quinn_ that! I could be a great leader you know? But no one ever seems to give me a chance!"

The singer can't help the surge of anger that passes through her.

"Finn, you—_FINN_, behind you!"

"Wha—Oh my god! Get it off me!"

\-\

"What are you talking about?" Puck tries to shrug it off and both he and Quinn know that he's failing miserably.

Quinn hums in response. "It makes a lot of sense actually, considering everything."

"You're tripping, Fabray," Puck tells her.

She watches as he switches to filling in the coolant and they're both quiet as the liquid slowly pours in.

"You going to tell her?" he asks suddenly.

"Well, I m—"

A muted scream can be heard and then gunshots from the front of the school break up the tension.

"Come on!" Quinn immediately starts running towards the back door of the school.

Puck barely remembers to grab his own rifle he had set aside before practically throwing down the bottle and the coolant slowly drains into the ground as he takes off after Quinn.

/-/

There's three zombies crawling towards Finn and one has grabbed his foot and is trying to pull him close. Another one is stretching out towards Rachel and she almost trips in her haste to get away. Her gun lies useless in her hands; she's afraid that at this close range she will miss and shoot Finn instead.

"Get away!" Finn yells out as he tries to pull his leg free. He tugs hard and there's a crunching sound as the arm from the zombie rips out of its socket and then Finn is tumbling down when the sudden pressure is gone.

"_Finn!"_ Rachel shrieks out when one of the other zombies jumps on him and opens it mouth wide.

He manages to shove his own rifle in between its teeth and kicks it away, just as another one crawls up to his right side. Rachel quickly pulls off her sling, takes her gun and uses it like a bat, swinging fast and slamming it into its head. She cringes when she feels the metal connect and there's a cracking sound as the fragile skull breaks apart at the force. She drops her now ruined gun and it clatters to the ground besides the now unmoving zombie.

"Get up!" she hisses at Finn when she notices two more shuffling towards them and she quickly tries to pull him to his feet.

Their screams have alerted Santana and Kurt and Brittany and they're running over to help. They're almost past the stairs when a hand suddenly darts out, grabbing Kurt by his ankle and he trips onto the sidewalk.

"Oof!" he cries out and barely manages to catch himself on his hands. His eyes widen when he feels something crawling _on_ him and he struggles to kick it away.

"Help!"

Just as the zombie dives for a bite, a bullet tears through its mouth and it collapses bodily right onto Kurt's back. He whimpers and pushes himself up, the corpse sliding off as he climbs shakily onto his feet. Brittany moves and backtracks towards him while Santana continues on.

Santana aims and fires at one of the zombies that's after Rachel. She manages to take out a kneecap and it suddenly drops as its leg gives out. Finn finally manages to break out of his stupor and he grabs his own gun and starts firing.

"Kurt! Are you okay?" Brittany asks when she reaches him.

He nods and knows he can still feel the zombie's blood on his back. He moves to wipe away the dust from his palms but the sudden sting in his hands has him looking down. His stomach drops as he spots the bright red from where the skin scraped off on the concrete.

The front doors are shoved open and Quinn is jumping down the stairs with Puck right behind her. He immediately brings up his gun as she quickly surveys the area. Kurt and Brittany are right in front, and she sees Santana helping Finn and Rachel as they start making their way back towards to the stairs. Puck instantly turns to their direction and moves to help them.

"Q!" Brittany calls to her cheer captain and she faces the taller blonde.

Kurt silently holds out his hands for her to see.

"You, Kurt Hummel, have absolutely the worst luck, _ever_," Quinn informs him.

"It's a gift, I guess," he replies.

"What do we do? We're out of bleach!" Brittany tells her frantically.

"It's okay, it's _okay_. We still have the hydrogen peroxide. It should work—remember when S had those scratches on the first day? I treated them with it and other than that small mob, it was nothing compared to yesterday's," she reassures them. "I left the bottles in Coach's Office so we'll go clean up there."

Quinn quickly moves to unlock the now closed door just as the others join them.

"What's wrong with Kurt? What happened?" Rachel asks before Quinn can shove Kurt inside.

"Kurt's bleeding—he skinned his hands when he fell so Q's going to help him clean up," Brittany explains.

"Yeah, we'll be back. Keep an eye out for any more zombies, alright?" Quinn tells them and then she and Kurt disappear inside.

"Wait! I need to get a new gun!" Rachel remembers and barely manages to catch the door before it shuts close.

"Rachel, get some more ammo too," Brittany calls out to her and she nods before she steps through the building.

"Great!" Finn says as he throws his hands out.

"Hey, this wouldn't have happened if you two had kept your mouths shut!" Santana turns to him, eyes angry. "All that yapping of yours attracted those zombies!" she accuses him.

"We shouldn't be arguing about this now, San," Brittany tries to calm Santana down and a strong hand is all that's stopping her from lunging at the football captain.

"Okay—so maybe we should have waited later to talk, but—"

"_No, _really?" Santana bites out sarcastically.

"Alright, everyone _shut up_. All this noise is just going to bring in more zombies and we still don't even know if the blood is going to attract them too. I don't really want even _more_ freakin' corpses lying around here so we'll save this for later when we figure out if we'll be okay, alright?" Puck tells them irritably.

Finn and Santana grudgingly agree and Brittany finally removes her hand from the other girl's arm before she reaches for her gun.

"Let's hope it's not like yesterday," she tells them worriedly.

They all look across to the front and wait.

/-/

"Quinn! Kurt!"

They both turn as Rachel unexpectedly catches up to them in the hallway, looking just as tired as Quinn feels.

"What happened? Did you get hurt too?" Kurt asks as he tries to search for any visible injuries.

"N-no," she shakes her head even as she can't help feeling pleased that he's worried for her. "I—ruined my gun, so I need to get a new one."

"Well, then you've come to the right place," Quinn tells her, trying to make light of the situation.

They navigate the hallways easily and when they reach the path that splits into two, Quinn holds them back.

"Rach, since you're going to Coach's Office you can help Kurt clean up. There's some stuff I need to get, so I'll meet you guys there in a bit."

"Oh." Rachel and Kurt both share confused looks. "Okay, we'll see you there later then, Quinn."

The blonde nods lightly and heads in the opposite direction as the other two walk towards the trophy room. Rachel turns and watches Quinn for a second longer before she and Kurt continue on their way.

\-\

***Bang!***

"What number was that?" Brittany asks as she lowers her gun.

"Ten," Santana tells her.

Finn frowns and puts down his rifle. "How do you aim so well? I have a better scope than you."

The taller blonde adjusts her grip on her gun before she brings it back up. "Practice. Plus, I'm super talented."

***Bang!***

Puck grins as he places his own gun down. "Seven, baby."

"Damn," Finn complains unhappily.

/-/

Quinn's not really sure what she's looking for but when she spots the fire extinguisher she has an idea. She uses the butt of her rifle to smash through all the glass and carefully extracts it from the case. It's heavy but manageable and she starts heading over to Teacher's Lounge to see if she can find a lighter.

\-\

"There, Kurt! Good as new," Rachel finishes applying the hydrogen peroxide and tosses the used cotton ball into the trashcan before placing a band aid each on his palm.

"Thanks, _Rach_," Kurt says as he looks at her, eyes wide and expectant.

She averts her gaze and wipes the invisible dust from her pants. "Ahem, well, Kurt, I'm not sure if you realize this, but there's some kind of… zombie fluid on you. On your back."

"Oh!" he cringes and turns around, trying to catch a glimpse.

Rachel places a hand on his shoulder. "It's better if you don't look, actually."

He pales and stops immediately. "Well," his eyes survey the room and his face brightens when he remembers what's in the cabinets. "Change of clothes!" he calls out and skips across the room.

Rachel watches him before she sighs softly in relief. She straightens and moves to grab another gun that's identical to the one she threw aside. Just as she's loading in the magazine case, the door opens and Quinn steps in, arms full with random items: a metal trashcan, fire extinguisher, and two large textbooks.

"Oh, let me help you with that," Rachel volunteers, slinging her gun and taking a few things from Quinn. She looks down at the books and can see no relation between them in their titles.

"I'll explain outside," Quinn catches her confused expression and the smaller brunette nods.

Kurt is in the midst of switching out his jacket and the blonde calls out to him. "Kurt, you can change later. Actually, we'll all probably want to change later."

He looks at her and wants to protest but sighs and slips his soiled jacket back on. "Alright, but you better explain why I still want to wear this disgusting thing."

"Yeah. Your wounds are treated and stuff?" she asks and he shows off his new band aids. "You both ready to go back out?"

"Oh, Brittany wanted me to restock some of our ammunition!" Rachel recalls and starts grabbing boxes of ammo.

"Put some in here," Quinn holds out the trashcan and they fill it up.

When they're ready with their supplies, Quinn leads the way and soon they're pushing open the front door just as Santana fires off a shot.

***Bang!***

"Hells ya, eats that, Finnept! Eight!" Santana cheers out.

"That one was totally mine!" Finn yells at her.

"Are you all having a _zombie_ _shooting_ _competition_?" Rachel asks in disbelief.

"Yeah, and I totally won," Brittany points out.

"Second place!" Puck grins.

Santana scoffs. "At least I'm better than Finnonence here."

"Y-you cheated!"

Quinn rolls her eyes. "Okay, children. Play time is _over_," she looks at them pointedly. "How many zombies were there? And does it seem like they're attracted to the blood?"

"There were like, twenty, in the beginning, but they slowed down a lot before you guys showed up," Brittany answers.

"Doesn't seem like they're really coming here anymore," Puck adds in. "Aside from all our loud cheering, actually."

"That's good then. The hydrogen peroxide definitely works. We'll need to stock up on some and maybe keep a bottle in our belts just in case or something," Quinn notes absently.

"So what's up with the books, Q? You find something important in there?" Santana questions when she notices what Quinn and Rachel are holding.

Brittany helps take some of the boxes and she and Kurt sit down on the steps and start the task of refilling some of the magazines. Puck joins in and they listen as Quinn explains her plans.

"Puck pointed out something to me at the generator—the fact that it produces heat. I'm only guessing here but I have a feeling the zombies are attracted to the generator because of that, more so than they are to the sound," the cheer captain tells them as she sits, setting down all the items and starts ripping out the pages in one of the books.

"So, they're kinda like heat seeking missiles too?" Finn asks and Quinn nods as she starts making a small pile of papers. Rachel takes a seat besides her to help and the football player scowls as everyone ignores him.

"It kind of explains why sometimes they see us and sometimes they don't. The more people gathered together means more body heat. So I'm thinking that they use it to hunt—kind of like, what was it? Snakes?" she glances over to Brittany who agrees.

"Yeah, snakes totally use infrared to sense radiant heat wavelengths and it helps them hunt and to avoid predators," the taller blonde informs them as everyone shares surprised looks.

Quinn continues on, completely unfazed because she already knows that Brittany is a genius at animal trivia. "Right, so the zombies are like snakes—following a heat source allows them to hunt for something even if they're blind or whatever…Which means hiding out in buildings or underground is ideal to avoid them from detecting us in this way," Quinn muses.

She now has a good amount of pages torn out for kindling and gestures to Rachel, telling her to stop. The blonde then reaches over and grabs the trashcan and empties its contents into the pile of ammo besides Brittany.

"I want to make sure though, so we're gonna start a little experiment here and maybe get some answers."

She pulls out a lighter she had found in one of Mr. Shue's drawers(surprise, surprise) and she and Rachel throw the papers into the trashcan. "Everyone spread out; I want to see if they're really attracted to a heat source or not," she orders and they all stand and take a random spot near the building, placing at least ten to fifteen feet in between each other.

Quinn steps down from the stairs and positions the prepared trashcan a good distance away before she flicks the lighter and uses a single sheet to start the flame. It catches easily and she throws it into the bin.

The papers slowly burn and Quinn makes sure the fire is stable before she clambers back up the front steps. She takes a seat on the top one, switches off the safety to her gun and they wait.

\-\

Quinn yawns as she stares into the blaze. She's mesmerized by the dance of the flames and blinks when she feels herself swaying lightly.

A soft groan instantly catches her attention and Brittany's the first to spot the one lone zombie crawling through its brethren as it makes its way towards the school.

They all watch as another joins him at the side; it seems they're unable to walk properly due to the lack of empty space and have resorted to pulling themselves slowly across the floor. It's kind of creepy watching as they claw themselves closer.

Quinn is peering at them through her scope and she sees two, turn into three, turn into four zombies and they're all heading towards her direction, towards the fire.

She waits until it's clearly obvious that they're swarming to the biggest heat source before she aims and shoots the closest one right through the forehead. Brittany takes out the one in the back, Puck shoots the next and Quinn places another bullet in the last one.

She quickly grabs the fire extinguisher, pulling out the pin and puts out the flames. She signals to the others to return to the stairs and they all make their way back.

"This is bad news, right?" Finn asks as soon he's there in front of Quinn.

"Not necessarily," she tells him. She stares at all the dead bodies and knows they'll need to clean them up.

"So we just avoid big groups and fires and generators and it should be fine," Puck shrugs.

Quinn shakes her head. "The generator is fine to use; it only brings in a small group probably because of all the barricades and because it's in the back. We can use this though, for our advantage."

Brittany immediately gets it. "We can trick them into following after a separate heat source!"

"Yup," Quinn gives Brittany a tired smile. She then turns to Puck. "Puckerman, you know anything about making Molotovs?"

His jaw drops. "Are you serious?"

She shrugs. "Yeah, they'd be perfect to use in case we get trapped or something."

"Quinn! T-those are _illegal_," Rachel tells her.

"_Look_ where we're at, babe," Puck says as he gestures around. "Can't get any more illegal than this." He grins. "This is so freaking sweet! I've always wanted to make them but if you get caught with those they skip juvie and automatically try you as adults in jail. We'll need plenty of empty bottles and gasoline and cloth. If we can find some storm matches and tape those are safer to use than cloth, but any of that will work."

Quinn nods as she sits back. "We need to get more supplies anyways—bleach, peroxide. Couldn't hurt to find more water and food either. But that'll have to wait until tomorrow—there's something even more fun we'll need to do today."

"Even more fun than throwing bottles of flaming liquid?" Santana questions.

"Uh huh. We get to move bodies," the blonde tells them and they all recoil and look to all the zombies littering the floor.

"Seriously?" Santana says while shuddering.

"Yup. It's definitely going to rain sometime soon, and I want to at least clear a path before the water hits. I'm not sure how absorbent dead bodies are, but I have a feeling it's gonna be a lot harder to move them after they've been soaked in water."

Quinn stifles a yawn. "We'll break for lunch though, and then we'll suit up and become our own personal zombie transport unit."

No one knows how to respond to that and Quinn merely stands and unlocks the door. They all gather the rest of the ammo and follow after her.

\-\

"You know, I was thinking and—"

"That must've hurt," Santana interrupts.

Puck fakes a laugh and then glares at her before continuing.

"Anyways, all this canned food, and spaghetti and stuff is good, but I'd like to eat some real food too. And that got me thinking about those commercial freezers that like, butchers use. Regular food would have spoiled by now, but those things are insulated and frozen food can last for like days in those!" he says as takes in another spoonful of ravioli.

"Don't fast food places have those?" Finn asks before he shoves some more noodles in his mouth.

"The school has a freezer too. Maybe there's food left in there," Quinn adds in from where she's lying on her back on the floor of the roof. Her own canned corn is untouched and she's resting with her arm covering her eyes as she tries to use her willpower to force her oncoming headache away. She's also trying to remember if she saw aspirin in the Nurse's office…

Rachel gives her a worried glance before she continues to eat her own mixed greens. "While the idea of consuming meat products even as there are cannibalistic creatures after us has me concerned for you all, I wouldn't mind eating something that's not full of preservatives or an unhealthy amount of sodium."

"You know, with the meat and stuff, do you think the zombies would eat that instead?" Kurt points out as he stirs his tomato soup around. He has obviously chosen the wrong meal because the red is kind of making him sick.

"What? You mean like, feed them the meat?" Santana asks as she gives him a look. "Like some kind of zombie pet or something?"

Brittany immediately frowns. "We're not going to keep him in the shelter, are we? He might eat Charity and Lord Tubbington."

"That might be a good idea actually!" Finn says enthusiastically. "We could use it like a double trap, along with those Mosotovs! Lead them with the meat as we run away or something!"

"Will they even be inclined to eat that?" Rachel wonders as she places her can down. She's tempted to lie down like what Quinn is doing because she's tired, but she doesn't want to be left out so she doesn't.

"Did the Wal-Mart even have anything left in their refrigerators?" Quinn questions quietly.

"No, most of it was gone," Puck answers her as he remembers all the empty aisles.

"A lot of the delivery trucks stopped their service two weeks ago though," Kurt recalls. "The one small market by my house ran out of milk and eggs and they never restocked."

Puck shakes his head. "There's got to be some places that were holding out on us."

"Bet you Figgins was totes lying about being low on food and packed a bunch for himself," Santana sneers out.

"We should check out the school freezer first then," Finn says as he finishes off his food.

"Quinn wants us to move the zombies in the front though," Rachel reminds them and they look over to the cheer captain who has fallen asleep.

"We should let her sleep. Aren't you tired too, Rachel?" Brittany asks the smaller brunette who's about to disagree but yawns instead.

"No, I am fine," she says immediately after and no one looks convinced.

"We'll bring up some blankets and you can just sleep here," Puck tells her even as she's shaking her head.

"It's unsanitary to—"

"I'd feel bad about waking her though," Brittany comments and everyone agrees, even Finn.

Rachel wants to accept but she doesn't want to sleep through maybe Kurt's last day.

"Just go sleep, hobbit," Santana grumbles out. "You're looking worse than you usually do and that's saying a lot right there. No point in wearing yourself thin; we'll wake you guys up in like an hour or two, if you're so eager about carrying those zombies around."

"Why, Santana, are you worr—"

"_No_, I'm just pointing out how bad you look, _that's_ all," Santana's tone is defensive and she glares at Rachel, daring her to say otherwise.

"Alright," the singer agrees with a small smile before she yawns once more. "But you have to make sure to wake us up in an hour! Actually, I'll set the alarm myself and—"

"What, you don't trust us to wake you?" Santana challenges her and Rachel hesitantly glances around.

Brittany smiles at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll wake you guys up in an hour."

"Yeah," Finn chimes in and she's too tired to remember that she's still mad at him.

"I'll go get the blankets and pillows," Puck volunteers.

"I'll come with," Kurt throws back the rest of his soup and moves to follow the football player.

Ten minutes later and after Rachel painstakingly dusts off the area as much as she can, she gently places the blanket over Quinn and the blonde doesn't even twitch when she slips a pillow under her head. The smaller brunette gives the others a smile and they all traipse towards the roof stairs. Finn's the last in the door and he watches as Rachel lies down besides Quinn before he sighs and steps through the doorway, the door clicking shut behind him.

She doesn't know if it's out of habit now, but Rachel finds herself automatically curling up against Quinn and she's out as soon as she closes her eyes.

/-/

"Think we should wake them?" Puck asks as they continue to explore the school for more supplies.

Their trip to the freezer had been successful… if finding a huge stack of still frozen tater tots was considered to be an accomplishment. Regardless, they decided they would leave them in there for now and then transport them to the shelter when they turned the generator back on.

"Nah, let them sleep. I want to prolong carrying dead bodies around as much as possible," Santana rolls her eyes and then leads them to the row of lockers. "I says we crack these open; you never know what crazy stuff people keep in their lockers."

"I once had a pet bird in mine," Brittany tells her.

Santana gives her smile but she turns and exchanges a look with Puck. They glance over to where the blonde's locker is and wonder if it's still there.

"Oh! I just remembered. Rachel said she wanted to take a group picture and Quinn was saying that maybe there's equipment in the AV room," Kurt tells them.

"A group picture?" Santana asks incredulously.

Everyone gives Kurt a dubious look but he shrugs. "Hey, I'll never turn down pictures. If possible I'd like to capture my last moments when my hair is still in perfect condition."

"I think it's a good idea," Finn defends his girlfriend even though everyone knows he's only saying it. "I mean, it's just a picture, you know? Capture the memories, or something."

"Whatevs," Santana walks past him and pulls out her handy nail filer from her back pocket. She grins. "Never leave home withouts one."

"Bet you I can break into more than you can," Puck challenges her.

"As if!" she replies but quickly moves to open the first one.

Brittany claps and goes over to her locker. "I'm finally going to get my diary!"

Kurt and Finn watch as Puck and Santana show off their potential futures into being criminals before the shorter boy turns to the football captain.

"Finn, would you like to accompany me to the AV room?"

"Uh," Finn glances nervously at him, obviously still uncomfortable with being alone with Kurt.

"Just go with him, Finnept!" Santana scowls at him. "Someone needs to make sure he doesn't turn into a zombie anyways."

She pops open her locker before Puck and her face is triumphant.

"Sure, Kurt, I guess," he agrees finally. Rachel's the one who wanted the camera anyways so he'll at least get points for that.

They turn and start heading over to the hallway that will lead them to the AV room.

"San, can you help me open my locker? I forgot my combination."

\-\

Quinn blinks and stares when she realizes that she's looking at a very unfamiliar ceiling. It takes her a minute to realize that she didn't repaint her walls to a cloudy sky and she sleepily rubs at her eyes. The action knocks off a part of the blanket that was covering her and she's wondering where it came from.

"Quinn? Are you awake?" a voice asks her and she moves her head to the side, barely registering the soft cushion underneath just as Rachel turns to face her.

"…I fell asleep?"

"Yes, well, both of us fell asleep, actually. For approximately…" the small brunette glances at the bulky watch on her wrist for a second before looking back to Quinn. "Three hours and fifteen minutes. Well, I woke up around ten minutes ago, but for you it—"

"Okay," Quinn interrupts her, satisfied with the answer before she sits up. She's feeling a lot better at least, so that's a plus. "Where are the others?" she asks as she starts fixing her messy hair.

Rachel gets up as well and watches for a moment as Quinn expertly braids her hair even without the use of a mirror. "Well, I was in the process of debating whether or not to contact them through the radio but then I remembered it's in your possession and then you woke up, so at the moment I have no idea where they are. I am disappointed in them actually, I specifically told Santana to wake us up an hour and she let our nap extend to three!"

Quinn finishes her new hairstyle and pulls a hair tie from her pocket to tie it down before she yawns and stands. "Knowing S, she just wanted to avoid physical labor."

"I have a feeling she was worried about you, even though she would never admit that," Rachel informs her as she shakes out her hair and starts getting to her feet. "We should contact them though. I can't even imagine what trouble they could have gotten into."

"They're not kids—" the look Rachel throws her has Quinn pausing. "Okay, for the _most_ part they're…they…well." She quickly reaches into her belt, pulling out the walkie-talkie before pushing the button.

"Hey, where you guys at?"

They both wait for the reply, hoping that they're not all dead.

***Static***

"_Hey, you sleeping beauties finally awake?" _

Rachel reaches over and snatches the radio from Quinn's hand.

"Hey!"

"Yes Kurt, we are awake, and I specifically told you to wake us up in an hour and do you know how much time has passed? Approximately three hours and nine—"

"Give me that," Quinn grabs the radio back. "Where are you guys?" She glares at Rachel, challenging her to try that again and the brunette harrumphs and crosses her arms across her chest.

***Static***

"_Don't worry, we didn't decide to go painting the town red or anything—okay that was a bad example actually. But we're still in the school—specifically in the AV room. I always thought the AV club was kind of shady—and we've definitely found out the real reason why."_

They both share a look.

"Okay, we'll be down shortly."

"_Aye aye, captain!"_

_*_**Static**_*_

Quinn deposits the radio back into its pocket. "Alright, I'm gonna freshen up first in the shelter and then we'll head over to the AV room."

"We shouldn't leave the blankets and pillows here though. What if it starts raining?" Rachel tells her worriedly and Quinn sighs.

"Okay then, let's just bring it with us."

"What about Kurt's cot?"

Quinn glances up; it's definitely a lot cloudier than it was before she went to sleep. But the clouds aren't that dark yet and she'll give it at least another day until it starts storming.

"We'll leave it for now—if anything he can just use your broken one or whatever if this one gets ruined. And—well." She doesn't mention how Kurt might not need it anymore and Rachel lowers her eyes before she clears her throat.

"Right," she says quietly and then starts gathering the blankets.

Quinn helps grab the pillows and she holds the door open for Rachel before they start their way downstairs.

/-/

A quick break after they had decided to leave the blankets and pillows in Coach's Office, the pair is now heading towards the AV room, flashlights in their hands as they make their way through the more darkened parts of the school.

"What do you suppose they found?" Rachel wonders curiously.

Quinn shrugs. "Has to be something good, if it's able to capture their attention for more than an hour."

"True. Maybe they found a way for us to get out of here!" the brunette says excitedly.

"Don't get your hopes up," Quinn tells her optimistically and Rachel shakes her head.

"Quinn, for someone who sometimes says very inspiring things, your outlook in life is rather bleak, did you know that?"

"Yes."

Rachel stops walking and Quinn continues on as the brunette stares at her for a bit.

"You're confusing."

Quinn turns and her flashlight shines in Rachel's eyes and the brunette winces at the brightness.

"Oops," the cheer captain points the light down. "Anyways, I'm confusing?" she scoffs. "You're one to talk, Berry."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means—that we're wasting time arguing in the hallway and I'm not even sure what we're arguing about," Quinn tells her and Rachel opens her mouth to refute it but changes her mind at the last second.

"Alright, we'll drop this for now but don't think that this is the last of it."

Quinn raises her eyebrow and gives the singer a mock bow. "As the lady wishes, it shall be done."

"You two done flirting yet?" a voice cuts in suddenly and Quinn immediately straightens up while Rachel shines her flashlight to the source.

"Santana! You startled me!"

Santana smirks and fakes a bow. "My apologies, fair lady."

Brittany smiles at them knowingly from the side.

Quinn rolls her eyes even though she can feel her cheeks burning. She's glad it's dark enough that they can't see her blushing.

"You two were taking too long so they sent us to go look for you," Santana informs them before they can ask questions.

"You couldn't have just used the radio?" Quinn mutters out.

The taller brunette regards them for a second before she starts leading them to the AV room. "Whatevs. Come on, there's something you two need to see."

\-\

"…what the hell is this?"

Quinn and Rachel stare at where the back wall of the AV room should be. Except it's not there and instead there's an opening and a staircase in the back that leads further down into the darkness.

"Finnept here found it. Tripped over some cords or something, smacked into the wall and it opened up to this," Santana tells them.

Finn smiles shyly. "Yeah, well."

"_Shut up_, that wasn't a compliment," Santana immediately glares at him.

"Oh."

"Did you guys go inside?" Quinn asks as she shines her flashlight around the entrance. The sides are deliberately reinforced with concrete and it's obvious that this has been around for a while.

"Yeah, we went in and this thing goes on forever," Puck answers. "We stopped though when we reached this area where it split and decided to turn back."

Quinn frowns as she continues to look around the tunnel.

"What do you think we should do?" Kurt asks apprehensively.

"I need a map," Quinn says unexpectedly and they all look at her. "Of Lima."

Rachel speaks up first. "The school library should carry some; although their collections of materials are lacking—which is apparent because they are missing the world-renowned biography of Barbra—"

"I'll go get them," Puck volunteers quickly and takes off towards the library.

"I'll help!" Kurt joins him.

"Lead the way, Puckerman!" Santana follows after.

"I should go too! I can help—"

"Nope, that's okay Rach! We don't need four people looking!" Kurt shouts back to her and then they're gone.

"Do you think it's another bad thing?" Brittany questions and Quinn shakes her head.

"I have no idea, B. But it's definitely not good."

/-/

When they return, Quinn quickly shuffles through all the papers and books, looking for the one that is specifically for the city. She stops and raises her eyebrow at the title of the one she's currently holding.

"Seriously? You guys grabbed a map of _Russia_?"

Puck shrugs. "Hey, they all look the same to me."

"He pretty much just took all the maps and atlases," Kurt explains.

"Okayyyy," Quinn says exasperatedly as she throws aside map after map.

"I knew I should've gone with—"

"Found it!" Santana interjects and holds up one of the maps Quinn had discarded.

"Thanks," the blonde says as she unfolds it and they all clear a spot in the middle of the room for space. "Anybody got a pen or pencil?"

"Oh, I saw one earlier," Brittany tells her and she swings the flashlight around until she remembers which drawer had the pens. She retrieves it and hands it to Quinn.

"Thanks."

Everyone is holding their flashlights over the map as she pops off the cap and she starts searching the map for the street their school is at, circling it as soon as she finds it.

"Okay, so our school is here…" She starts drawing in different areas: the mall, where they know some of the barricades are and the south west where there's the possibility that the hospital is still operational.

When she's done she points to the school and looks around. "You guys went down the tunnel, right?"

Everyone minus Rachel nods and Quinn glances back to the secret entrance before turning back to the map. "Do you which direction the passageway leads?"

"Let's see, the school faces that street here… so I think it starts heading towards there," Kurt says as he points to the west.

"No," Brittany cuts in. "Remember? There was that weird dippy thing and we had to curve around."

"Oh yeah," Puck nods as he recalls the area that Finn almost twisted his ankle at. "It wraps here and then it leads this way…"

The five of them continue to argue until they all finally come to an agreement and Quinn's just staring at the path that they've plotted out when they're done.

"You guys sure it's this way?" she asks quietly.

"Without a compass we wouldn't know for sure, but, I'd say that's pretty much the gist of it," Puck responds.

"Things just keep getting better and better," Santana mutters out.

Quinn tosses down the pen in frustration.

"My thoughts exactly," Rachel sighs out as she stares at the map.

There are various pen markings where Quinn had to redraw the lines, but the final consensus is that the secret passageway leads towards the southwest.

Towards the hospital.

/-/

"Quinn?"

There's no answer and Rachel glances over to the blonde who's sitting against the wall with her knees pulled up and face hidden.

They had postponed moving the bodies after stepping on that landmine and the rest of the day had been spent poking around the AV room for more clues and setting back up the generator. Kurt's quarantine location was also moved to inside the emptied chorus room due to the possibility of rain. It hasn't actually started raining yet but the wind has definitely picked up and the temperatures have dropped drastically. The solar lights and Kurt's bed have been relocated and the room is ghastly lit in the darkened school.

It's now Quinn's and Rachel's shift and Kurt is sleeping fretfully and the singer wonders if the others are also having trouble falling asleep.

She looks back to Quinn and slides closer to her.

"Quinn? Are you awake?"

Silence.

Rachel sighs softly, because she's already missing their (mostly)carefree yet entertaining conversations that they had just this morning.

The blonde shifts suddenly and leans until her head is on Rachel's shoulder.

Quinn is quiet as she voices her question. "Do you still believe God's just testing us, Rach?"

Rachel finds herself without an answer and merely searches for Quinn's hand in the dim light. When she locates it she's intertwining their fingers and absently notes that their hands fit together perfectly.

"Someone once told me, Quinn," she answers her finally. "That if there's a will, there's a way. And at that moment, I knew we had nothing to worry about because I sincerely believed her words."

They're both hushed as they continue to listen to Kurt tossing and turning in his sleep. Quinn's the first to stand and she pulls Rachel up to her feet and they pad over to his cot.

"Kurt?" Rachel gently shakes him awake and he utters out a gasp as his eyes flutter open.

He stares at them and sags in relief when he realizes that he was dreaming. They both take a seat besides him as he sits up and they wrap their arms around each other.

"I don't want to die," he sobs out as they hold him close. "I mean, I've—I've never even been kissed. And I was still waiting for Mr. Shue to recognize my talents and give me that well deserved solo—no offense, Rachel. And there was this really cute outfit I was planning to order and it was supposed to be released this week—I mean the color and the cut," he bawls out as he gestures to himself. "It was like it was made for me, you know?"

"Kurt..." Rachel struggles not to cry and Quinn turns her head away, knowing if she continued to watch she wouldn't be able to keep up her façade.

There's a knock, interrupting their moment and as the door to the room opens they pull away. One by one, Finn and Puck and Santana and Brittany enter and they can see that they're all holding pillows and blankets in their arms.

"We decided we should have a sleepover," Brittany tells them. "Charity and Lord Tubbington wanted to come too, but I told them they had to stay in the shelter. So they told me to bring you this."

She walks over and hands Kurt a purple squeaky mouse toy and he gives her a teary smile before squeezing it.

*_squeak_*

"A sleepover! An excellent idea!" Rachel immediately jumps up from the bed, quickly swiping at her eyes. "I'll go get the broom so we can dust off floor—"

"You cleaned the floor _already_, hobbit," Santana butts in. "You sure you're not related to Miss Pillsbury or something? You could give her a run for her money with your OCD."

Rachel blinks and is about to defend herself but Santana is already ignoring her so she merely frowns in response.

Kurt blots at his eyes with his pajamas sleeves. "What should we talk about?" he asks eagerly as he moves from his cot to the floor.

Everyone gathers into an incomplete circle and they look at Quinn expectantly. She sighs, not wanting to move from the comfortable bed but Brittany grabs her hand and drags her down next to her and Rachel. The smaller brunette gives her a smile before she holds up her hand to gain everyone's attention.

"For this sleepover, I propose that we—"

"I say Kurt should be the one to decide," Santana interrupts her.

Rachel throws Santana a glare. "As I was saying! I propose that we allow Kurt the honors of deciding our sleepover activity!" she turns to him. "Kurt?"

He smiles and taps his chin as he considers his options. "Normally, a sleepover would consist of the mandatory mani-pedi combination, but since that is out of the question," Finn and Puck sigh in relief at this, "I think, maybe it's time we get back to our roots to what Glee club is. We haven't sung in almost two weeks now, and I'm not sure about you guys and gals, but I miss being able to stretch out my vocal chords."

Rachel starts standing up. "I have some sheet music in my locker and—"

"Sit back down, smurfette," Santana grabs her and roughly pulls her back down.

"Ouch."

"We'll have to forego instruments though," Quinn warns them.

"That's fine actually, because I am splendid at a cappella. Rachel and I, will lead," he smiles at the smaller brunette who grins back. "And the rest of you can be back up, or something."

"Seriou—"

"San," Brittany gives her a pleading look and she sighs angrily.

"Fine."

"What should we sing?" Finn asks. "I could use pens as like, drumsticks! To at least help keep the beat."

"Well, I was thinking a song from Broadway would be a good place to start."

"Wicked?" Rachel asks eagerly.

Kurt nods. "Defying gravity?"

"Yes!" the smaller brunette excitedly claps.

"Ay Dios Mio."

"You have to avoid those high F's though," Quinn points out and Rachel pouts but decides that any singing is better than none.

"Wait, Quinn! You know Wicked?" the smaller brunette turns to her and Quinn shrugs before she grabs a pillow and lies down.

"Whatever. Serenade us to sleep already, Berry."

_Time Left: 10 hours._


	9. 10 to the Fifth

**A/N: Hello**! It's taken a while to get this chapter written-because I am **lazy**, and this chapter was hard to write. No, really, but the main reason is because I'm lazy. Sorry. It started at 12k-and then editing brought it up to 13k-oh. it's 14k now.. okay, at least it's not 20k! Yes! Anyways, **sorry** for the delay. I'm trying to get the story back on the track I had originally planned, but it's taking a while. I'm also still deciding how I want to take this-**but here's a fair warning, this story may not end up having a happy ending**. Or, at the rate that I'm writing, it may not end up having an ending, _at all_. Ha!

Anyways, **zombiekiller09**, you are hilarious. You could drink a cup of zombies but that sounds disgusting, so please, don't!  
>Heads up to <strong>River Kirby<strong>, thanks for those super long reviews :) and for your camaraderie!  
>Thanks, <strong>YinYangTwin1<strong> for your interest in this story! It was enough for you to msg me about it which is crazyyy. Yes, I don't get many messages so that was a welcomed surprise!

**Thank you really, for all the reviews, you guys totally know who you are!** I'm so glad people enjoy reading, because this has too many words. I'm really sorry I haven't updated! It would be awesome to finish this story before the new year, but I can already tell you that I most likely won't update until, January. Unless I can convince myself otherwise and finish other things to somehow accommodate time to write. And maybe if I could shove lazy away. That would be something.

Also, apologies if this chapter just doesn't make sense. I've gotten tired of editing and any mistakes are due to me just wanting to publish this chapter already.  
>hm. also thinking about making a new summary, but maybe I'll think of that later. :\<p>

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><p>\-\<p>

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\-\

\-\

\-\

It's amazing, how unpredictable time can be. Hours can easily disappear in seconds, minutes can suddenly turn into days.

Night is leaving already, slinking back, it's another day.

6am.

An hour before sunrise.

Five and a half hours until they figure out if Kurt—will live or die and live again.

And then die, once and for all.

The singing has stopped, tapered and traded off for dreams and nightmares, and the only ones still awake at this point are Quinn, Rachel, and Kurt.

The watch on Quinn's wrist has its alarm set to 7am, and when that sounds, she'll wake the others and they'll wash up, doll up, for that group picture that Rachel wants to take.

But, there's still an hour to go until daybreak and Quinn finds herself slowly nodding off as the gentle, faint scritch scratch of pen on paper lulls her into a restless, troubled sleep.

The light in the room is waning as the charge from the solar lights fade, and all three are huddled, sitting side by side, drawn to the remaining luminescence as Kurt and Rachel jot down their thoughts, their memories, their dreams.

(Their wills.)

Five minutes, and Quinn finds herself losing the ongoing fight. Her body slowly tilts to the side and Rachel pauses, pen midway through a loop, when she feels a now familiar weight leaning against her. A quick glance for confirmation, a small, gentle quirking of her lips before her pen is finishing the l and moving on.

Kurt remains lost in his own notebook and the room is quiet as Quinn and the others slumber.

Pages, paragraphs—thirty minutes and a nightmare later, Quinn finds her eyes opening as fear seizes and grips at her heart. She's half asleep, taking in deep breaths and the movement informs Rachel that she's awake.

The fervent writing slows, stops when she feels Quinn shifting and then the blonde is burying her face into the singer's shoulder. Rachel can tell, the same vulnerability is there—the same, that was present mere hours(days?) ago, when Quinn had first asked her about God.

She brings Quinn close, because she knows that a hug always makes things better. She takes it as a good sign when the blonde doesn't pull away. It's a tentative friendship they've developed—fragile at most with entirely too much baggage, but it's _honest_ and one of the few good things they've somehow managed to find, trapped in a place like this.

Finn had told her that Quinn can't be trusted, that she's bad news and a bad idea, and maybe a week ago, she would've believed him.

But this Quinn, _this_ Quinn that she knows—she's different, no longer the cold Queen Bee of McKinley High but rather the leader of this ragtag team. She's real, human. Someone with hopes and fears, just like her, just like everyone else.

She hopes that Finn will get over this, because friends are something that Rachel Berry _never_ gives up on.

Even if they give up on her.

Kurt keeps quiet, noticing the two only because he had stopped writing to stifle a yawn. He can only _just_ make out their dark figures leaning together in the weak light. Whether intentional or not, he has a feeling that this _whatever_ that is developing between them is not going to end well.

Kurt returns to his journal, not wanting to dive into the middle of all this drama. There's enough on his plate at the moment. Like dying, for example. And, if he survives and Finn and Rachel break up… well. He flips through to an empty page and starts writing down a few notes.

Eventually, Quinn feels her thoughts settling and, although she can still feel the prickle of fear from her nightmare lingering on, it's disappearing, replaced by the warmth from the other girl besides her. There's a moment longer before she's sitting up and moving away, offering Rachel back her personal space with a silent thanks.

Quinn's embarrassed, because it's the second—_third_(?) time that she's shown Rachel weakness.

Both girls intentionally ignore the loss of comfort from the abrupt lack of contact.

Knowing that her words will merely push the blonde further away, Rachel picks the pen up once more.

Quinn leans back against the wall as Rachel continues to write. Hazel eyes adjust to the even dimmer lighting and with a lazy glance, she takes note that two of the lamps have already gone dark, leaving the visibility very low and just barely there. They'll need to charge them soon.

Shadows dance and there's a flicker, and then three is down to two. With a barely audible protest, Rachel and Kurt place their pens down because that's the indication to stop. At this point, they'll strain their eyes even further and will need to bury their noses in the paper if they want to be able to see their written words.

Their notebooks are closed, shut and packed away.

Quinn won't admit it, but she's curious, wondering what's in either of their journals and entertains the thought of asking to ease her curiosity. She decides though, to let the idea go; maybe one day, they'll trust her enough that they'll show her without her asking.

(Maybe one day (today), they'll have to pry the journal from Kurt's cold hands.)

With their diversion gone, the tiredness that they've been battling filters in and Kurt yawns loudly as Rachel rubs at her eyes.

Less than half an hour to go before the alarm goes off.

Almost four and a half hours to go before Kurt—

/-/

7:45am.

Everyone's up and awake and _complaining_ because they're all assembled outside, on the roof, and freezing in the chilly morning air.

Santana glares grumpily at Rachel but the smaller girl easily turns a blind eye. She's excited and is letting the idea of a simple photograph distract her thoughts for the time being.

"Are we taking this photo or whats?"

"Yes!" Rachel responds enthusiastically. "Just as soon as I figure out the best arrangement to ensure that this will be the absolute, perfect picture! Now, Santana, would you consider your left or your right to be your best side?"

Santana slaps her forehead exasperatedly. "Ay Dios Mio."

Finn is still yawning when Kurt suddenly grabs him by the arm.

"Finn! Your hair! Here, let me fix it for you," he tells the taller boy before pulling out a can of mousse from his belt and popping off the lid.

"Whoa—what?" is all Finn can get out before Kurt pulls him down and starts styling his hair.

Puck manages to avoid all this and has promptly passed out on the floor. His mohawk is practically maintenance free anyways, and he'll just need to wipe away the drool from his mouth and he'll be ready.

"We could've slept a bit longer," Brittany whines as she leans sleepily against Quinn.

Quinn merely responds with a yawn of her own. She then swipes at her eyes and with nothing better to do, looks over to the southwest. The cloudy sky makes it hard to tell if the lights are still on or not.

She makes a mental note to check later tonight, when a darker sky is a better contrast to the bright, artificial lights.

\-\

Still morning.

Same roof.

8:15am.

It's still cold, still windy, and with the sun still remaining behind those layers of clouds, it's just turning out to be one of _those_ kind of days.

There's no doubt now, that a storm has rumbled in and by early or mid afternoon, parts of Ohio, Lima included, will be drenched in heavy rain.

Quinn shivers lightly and when Kurt sneezes right after, everyone takes an involuntary step back. Pictures aside, _distractions_ aside, Kurt's situation is still on the forefront of their minds.

Is he turning?

No answers as they all watch him warily.

"Let's just get this over with already," Santana complains after a moment. "I'm tired and I'm freezing my bits off here."

Puck, awakened by a nagging Rachel, gives Santana a lewd grin. "I can warm those right up for you," he tells her as he wiggles his fingers invitingly.

There's a hard elbow shoved at his stomach and he's doubling over as Santana merely reaches over and pulls Brittany closer for warmth.

There's that normalcy here that still makes this an ordinary, any other, every kind of day.

But, not.

"Alright!" Rachel claps twice and five pairs of eyes turn to her direction.

Santana doesn't bother and buries her face into the crook of Brittany's neck, causing the taller blonde to giggle softly.

"Finally," her voice is muffled but the annoyance is crystal clear.

Rachel gives an uncertain glance before continuing. "Please follow my instructions as I delegate your designated spots for the picture! This formation was made, taking into consideration the differences in heights and facial bone structure. After much deliberation with Kurt, we have determined which side will entitle us to look our best!"

There's a pause, when no one moves despite Rachel's earnest instructions because her enthusiasm this early in the morning is frightening. Especially, well, _considering_.

Surprisingly enough, Santana's the first to walk to her assigned spot as she drags Brittany with her. Rachel wants to protest, because Brittany looks better on the other side—but a glare stops her short. She gives Santana a nervous smile before calling out to Finn and Puck.

One by one, Rachel points and fusses as the formation slowly comes together.

The boys end up being in the back—mainly due to their heights and Finn is placed on the far right, Puck in the middle, and Kurt is on his best side (left).

A quick rearrangement of the middle row, and Brittany now stands in front of Finn and Puck, with Santana right next to her.

Finn fumes and drowns in his jealousy when he realizes that Rachel and Quinn are in the front. Rachel gives him a pleading smile—and it's an automatic, force of habit kind of thing when she ends up giving him a kiss to placate him.

She pulls back suddenly, barely managing to disguise her horror because she's actually still mad at him.

It's the first kiss she's given to him in days though and because he's Finn, he thinks this means that she finally understands and forgives him. He accepts, smiles and steps back into line.

With her endless supply of charm and elegance, Santana gags and chokes in response and only stops when Quinn turns around and raises an eyebrow at her. They exchange a look and Quinn can almost see the gears turning in Santana's head as she reads so much more into this than she should.

There's that slight narrowing of brown eyes, and Quinn knows that the first chance she gets, Santana's going to ask her some very annoying questions.

Rachel collects herself, deeming the task at hand to be more important than this...altercation with Finn and double checks to make sure that everyone looks perfect. She then rushes over to set up the camera(property of one JewFro) and the tripod a few feet away to finally get this show on the road.

As soon as her back is turned, Puck shoves himself in between Santana and Brittany and poses with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey!"

Santana's protest has Rachel whirling around immediately. "_Noah_!" she points to him. "You can't stand over there just because you want to be surrounded by girls! Get back in line!"

He gives her an obscene gesture because he's Puck and Santana pushes him back when he's distracted. She scowls, he smirks. Finn claps his hand on his friend's shoulder because he's trying to impress Rachel and Puck isn't helping.

A shrug and then he moves back into place.

"Is everyone ready?" Rachel calls out as she looks them over with critical eyes.

Kurt, the only other person who's really taking this just as seriously, nods encouragingly and when Rachel seems satisfied with what she sees, she quickly pushes the button for the automatic timer and power walks to the others. She's kneeling down and scooting over next to the crouching blonde, and Finn tries his best to ignore it because it means nothing; Rachel is _his_ girlfriend and he trusts her.

Quinn on the other hand…

"Smile!" Rachel reminds them because the camera's going to go off any second now.

She chances a quick glance at Quinn, knowing that the blonde tended not to smile in pictures—and she's not disappointed when she sees Quinn staring impassively at the camera, captain of the Cheerios façade on full display.

Any protests that she makes will bring suspicions, so Rachel lets this go and smiles for the camera. She'll show enough optimism for everyone. She's had her whole life to practice this, after all.

A flash alerts them that the picture is done and Rachel's on her feet and dashing to the camera in a split second.

"Everyone, please stay in your positions while I ensure that this is possibly the perfect picture!" she calls back to them as she eagerly reaches for the camera.

Santana turns around and smacks Puck on the arm.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"I totes know you sabotaged this picture and now Speedy Gonzalez over there," she points her thumb towards Rachel's general direction, "is going to make us retake it."

"I like Speedy Gonzalez," Brittany adds in. "Lord Tubbington keeps licking the screen whenever he's on though."

Right on cue, there's that sound of indignation from the girl behind the camera and everyone groans in response.

Santana places a cap on the maximum number of pictures they can retake and luckily for Rachel, third time's the charm and the last one has everyone framed and posed perfectly.

Or, as perfect as they could possibly be.

Unfortunately for Rachel, Figgins had either donated or confiscated all the computer equipment within the school when he left two weeks ago. The only computers and printers they still have access to are the super archaic ones in the library, which are as good as useless and they had agreed that they would hold off on printing copies for now. Fortunately, Santana had found (stolen) a Polaroid camera in one of the lockers yesterday and as an alternative, they will be using that to take a picture _of_ the picture on the camera screen.

The quality will be shot to hell, but it's the best they have.

With eight Polaroid photo sheets (Puck had wasted two testing it out yesterday by taking pictures of Santana's chest) everyone will be able to get a copy and they'll have one extra, just in case.

Despite the cold, they remain outside on the roof to make use of the natural lighting as Rachel excitedly starts making copies. The first photo is hers, naturally, and she smiles happily at the memento before slipping it into her front pocket for safekeeping. She makes four more and hands them out to Quinn, Kurt, Puck, and Finn.

Before she can make another one for Brittany, Santana stops her and grabs the camera.

"Santana!"

"Calm down, hobbit!" Santana tells her as she bats away the shorter girl's hands before pushing her away. "Go soak up some sun for your daily photosynthesis or whatever leprechauns need to stay green; I'm just gonna borrow this for a second."

Rachel looks offended and glances around to see what else she can do. She can see Finn, Kurt and Puck joking about something and decides to start disassembling the nearby tripod and camera instead of joining them.

Quinn's showing her copy of the photo to Brittany and Santana merely grasps the taller blonde by the shoulder and twirls her around.

Brittany lets out a small laugh and wide blue eyes light up when she faces Santana. "What's up, San?"

Santana points to the camera, ignoring Quinn's amused stare."Nada, babe. I just need your cute mugshot to make my life complete."

Tilting her head, Brittany debates for a moment before she shakes her head and reaches for the camera. She tugs at it until Santana finally lets go and without missing a beat, she turns expectantly to Quinn.

"Q, take a picture for us?"

Giving them a knowing smile, Quinn agrees and Santana rolls her eyes.

"Sure."

The two girls pose with wide grins and no space between them.

"Say cheese."

There's a click and just like that, the memory is captured and stored. Quinn hands the developing photo over and Santana and Brittany watch as their smiling faces slowly appear on paper.

It's low quality and a bit washed out but it's _perfect_ and Santana kisses the photo once before she slips it into her jacket pocket.

Brittany places a kiss of her own to Santana's physical cheek before she pulls the other cheerleader with her and slides in right besides Quinn.

"Rachel? Can you take a picture for us?" Brittany calls out to the smaller girl who's busy going through the contents in the digital camera. She would have asked one of the boys but they seem busy, leering over something—well, Finn and Puck were leering and Kurt was merely looking.

The short brunette jumps when her name is called. She looks up and Brittany holds up the Polaroid in question.

"O-of course!" she squeaks out, almost guilty like and shuts off the device before stuffing it back into its original bag. She then makes her way towards the other girls.

Quinn watches her carefully, wondering what she's hiding but before she can ask, Brittany pulls her in and Rachel is ready to take the picture.

"Okay, on the count of three! One, two, three!"

Quinn manages to smile when Brittany tickles her right before the shot is taken. The three cheerleaders look like best friends and Rachel barely keeps her envy in check as she hands the sheet over to the group.

She turns away from them, just in case, and is surprised when she almost runs into Finn who has somehow sneaked his way next to her. He's usually a lot more clunkier than that and he gives her a dopey smile when she looks up.

"Hey."

"Finn!"

"Uhm, so, like there's one more photo sheet in there, right?" Finn asks as he points to the Polaroid in Rachel's hands.

She plasters on an unsure smile. "Yes, Finn. Each person so far has one photo, excluding Noah, due to his rather inappropriate means of assessing the operational quality of the camera yesterday. I have printed out five copies and Santana and Brittany each have one."

"Uh, yeah," Finn says as he nods slowly, mentally calculating the numbers in his mind. "Right, so there's one left. Anyways, I was thinking maybe you and me could take a picture, you know? I'd like to have one of us together. As, as a reminder, or something like that."

When Rachel doesn't respond, Finn's confusion is apparent; he had really thought she would have been a lot more excited. Especially with how gung ho she was about the group photo.

"Sure, Finn," she recovers quickly and smiles enthusiastically, because she's good at pretending, and his expression clears in relief.

"Yeah?"

"Yes, Finn! It's a splendid idea!" she turns, in search of a photographer (anyone but Quinn or Santana, _please_) and locks eyes with the first person she sees. Her smile falters and drops momentarily when Kurt looks at her in understanding.

"Kurt, would you do the honors?" She gestures helplessly to the camera.

Finn's so oblivious and Kurt makes a split second decision.

"I refuse," he says snootily and crosses his arms across his chest.

Rachel blinks, not knowing what she has done to offend him but he gives her a quick wink that disappears just as fast.

Kurt saunters over to Finn and when he passes Rachel, he taps the camera before grabbing Finn by his arm.

"_I'm_ the one that might be potentially dying here and there's only one sheet left in that camera. I've been very selfless, you know, these past few days. I even let you take the lead yesterday during our little sing-a-long. There's a high chance we'll be able to find more photo paper when we go searching for more supplies soon. And there's a higher chance that I won't be here to use it."

Finn's obviously lost. "Uh, am I missing something here?"

"Just smile for the camera, Finn," Kurt tells him.

Rachel feels the burn of eyes around her and she knows that Kurt's little performance has attracted attention.

So there's nothing else to do but to concede to Kurt's rather whimsical last minute wish. She steps back and takes the picture.

When she lowers the camera, she ignores the relief she feels.

It's unwarranted, unwanted, and dangerously perplexing.

Because…

/-/

9am.

Breakfast will always be the first, most important meal of the day.

The group has finally moved inside, away from the frigid stormy air and into the teacher's lounge. The cloudy light filtering in from the windows provides sufficient lighting and the room is small enough that it gives off a feeling of safety. Even though it's unsettling, being exposed behind the clear glass, they at least have a clear view if anyone (or _thing_) approaches.

The solar lights have been placed outside by the front doors and Quinn hopes that there's enough sunlight for them to charge properly. She adds lanterns and more batteries to her growing list of things that they need, just in case.

The tables are pushed together and chairs are moved and they manage to cram seven seats for seven people with only two tables.

The girls (and Kurt) sit down to dig into their meals while Puck and Finn scrounge around the room, looking for supplies. With their search ending in the AV room yesterday, there wasn't a chance to look inside so they're hoping to find something useful here.

But mostly they're eager to see if they can sneak a peek and find some dirt on their teachers.

Quinn actually already knows what they're going to find because she had gone through here on her hunt for a lighter. It's also why the room is in slight disarray (but she doesn't tell them that).

There's coffee creamer, salt, ketchup, and many, many pamphlets shoved into the back of all the cabinets. It's as if all the fliers that Miss Pillsbury has ever passed out to any of the faculty somehow found its way there.

Deliberately.

"Hey, I found some creamer!" Puck holds up the container.

"Ketchup and salt too!" Finn cheers.

Quinn shakes her head and tunes them out, concentrating instead on her meal because after they figure out Kurt's condition, it'll be time to get back to business.

The two football players find the pamphlets and not much else and the search is officially over. Disappointed, Finn takes his seat next to Rachel and Puck drops into the chair besides Kurt. They start devouring their meals with gusto because they're the only ones still not disgusted with canned food.

Conversation is scarce as each is lost in their thoughts because there's less than three hours to go.

\-\

They remain in the teacher's lounge as the hours, minutes, tick by and every single action that Kurt does has them on edge.

When he rubs his eye due to a stray eyelash, Finn ends up pointing his rifle at him. Luckily, the safety is still on and he manages to avoid a misfire from his shaking hands.

It doesn't help though, that Kurt continues to fidget and he's twitching and there's so much nervous energy that Quinn's this close to just tying him down. Rachel continues to monitor him intensely and she's tempted to bite her nails due to the anxiety of the wait.

And when the alarm beeps—everyone jumps.

But there's a loud shout as Puck whoops and slaps Kurt hard on the back.

Time's up.

And Kurt's doing _fine_.

It's a collective sigh of relief.

They know now that it takes time until the infection spreads to the blood; that man had been attacked by a zombie but his blood had not affected Kurt. Meaning, that if they ever had a cure, there's still a chance to save someone, even after they've been bitten.

A hypothetical cure though, is useless because it doesn't exist.

Quinn clears her throat to gain everyone's attention.

"I'm glad, Kurt," she gives him a small smile, "that you're okay, and you're not a zombie. I have the perfect way for us to celebrate this."

Santana groans because she already knows what the blonde is referring to.

"Seriously, Q?"

"Yes, S. It's zombie moving time."

/-/

They head back to the shelter for a quick break, giving Brittany a chance to feed her cats and the boys help to lug Kurt's cot and their sleepover gear back inside. Any necessities are taken care of and supplies are gathered before they climb back outside.

Santana makes sure that Quinn knows _just_ how much she hates this idea and Quinn makes sure that Santana knows _just_ how much she doesn't care.

They walk cautiously past the few dead bodies in the back, note the absence of zombies by the generator and then they step once more into the school and start gearing up to get ready.

Less than an hour later and four of them are assembled in the hallway just outside the front doors. They've all suited up in multiple layers of clothing, enabling them to shed the first layer and just dump it when they're done. All the girls also have their hair tied up in high ponytails—out of the way and away from potential grabby hands. They'll put on their gloves from the storage room and janitor's closet when they're ready and flu masks from the nurse's office are on standby as they wait for Quinn, Puck and Finn to return. The boys have traded in their regular shoes for some football gear found in the locker room and Rachel is wearing one of Coach's boots. When this is over they'll throw these shoes away too; they're going to try their best to keep contamination out of the shelter.

Better late than never, right?

Rachel adjusts her safety goggles taken from the chemistry lab and is about to pull them off to retie the knot but stops when she feels a tug on the rubber band. She glances back and Brittany winks at her from behind her own goggles before the blonde gives her a pat on the shoulder, signaling that she's done.

Quinn, Puck and Finn finally reappear from the hallway, arms laden with shovels, rakes, and an industrial broom and the equipment is passed around until everyone has one in their hands.

"Okay, so this is going to be really simple," Quinn starts explaining as she tests her broomstick to make sure it won't break under pressure. "We're going to try and clear a path, starting from the school and working our way out towards the street if time permits. The bodies will be moved towards the side, if possible against the barricades so they're out of our way for good. Any questions?"

She glances around and she doesn't know if it's the goggles, but everyone looks a little pale.

It's not like she herself is _okay_ with body moving; it's just—it needs to be done.

Santana opens her mouth and Quinn cuts her off.

"_Yes_, Santana. _Everyone_ will participate. We'll leave our rifles by the front steps and put those handguns to use. They're lighter, less mess and it'll be good training too, for close combat. Especially after what happened yesterday to Rachel and Finn. I want one person as a lookout though, to provide backup and to keep an eye out for those random zombies hidden in all those bodies."

The loss of their rifles has everyone on edge, but they agree that it's for the best. The bulky guns will just get in their way and at least the amount of zombies outside will be minimal. The idea of being able to avoid the grueling task gives hope though, and a small rock-paper-scissors tournament is held immediately to determine who will be the winner and become the guard.

Quinn steps back and watches as Brittany dominants the games. Kurt moves to stand besides her and Quinn gives him a curious look that he answers with a shrug.

"I'm not much of a good shot anyways," he tells her. "And, I'm horrible at rock-paper-scissors. It's not my fault that scissors always appealed to me. Must be why I like sewing so much."

Puck loses the last round and Brittany grins in triumph.

"San, do you want to be guard?"

Santana looks at her in surprise when she realizes why Brittany had even played. She doesn't know whether she should be insulted (which she is) or flattered (which she also is).

She shakes her head. "You totes earned that, babe. Plus, it's the perfect job for you, you're the best sharpshooter we gots."

Brittany smiles. "Yeah. I am, aren't I?"

"Knew you wouldn't let me down," Quinn tells her and that's when everyone realizes that this was a set up.

"...You knew that Brittany would win, didn't you?" Kurt accuses her and Quinn shrugs.

"Maybe, but Brittany won fair and square though, so she's the guard. B, take my rifle instead. Everyone else, grab your gear, and let's mosey."

"…Geez Q, you better be careful there. I think your inner dweeb is starting to show up. Can't you say 'Move out!' or something cooler?"

"…Bite me, Lopez."

\-\

They divide into pairs that's decided by balancing their strengths, placing Finn and Rachel(he insisted, despite their obvious height difference) together, Puck with Kurt, and Santana and Quinn as the last duo. Brittany has set her own extra protection (gloves, goggles, that extra layer of clothes) aside, right next to the rifles and the boots, and is keeping watch on the front steps as each team splits off to cover more ground and to become less of a warm target. She keeps the mask on though, because the smell outside is absolutely _rancid_.

Despite the cold weather, a collection of dead bodies festering together does not smell like candy and roses.

Each person has two handguns in their belts with extra ammo and each team has one radio for communication. Quinn hopes to find more professional walkie-talkies with a greater range tomorrow(?) so that everyone can have their own.

The shovels, the rakes, the mop, are to be used as defense and to prod the body first—to make sure it's _really_ dead, before they start moving it over to the side.

Quinn pokes at the first body as Santana watches on, clear disgust evident on her face.

"This is totes vomit worthy, Q," Santana tells her from behind her flu mask. Even with it on, the smell is overpowering and her eyes keep watering in response.

"Too bad Coach didn't think to stock the storage with gas masks," Quinn answers her absently. She's actually surprised that there weren't any.

Not to mention really disappointed.

A few more jabs and when it's guaranteed that this zombie and the ones surrounding it are dead, Quinn gestures to Santana, telling her to grab the feet and they both prop their tools against one of the nearby walls to free their hands.

Quinn reaches down, grabbing the corpse from its arms and promptly learns, that that's a big mistake. Decomposition has done nothing good to the bodies and some of them, like this one, are falling apart with the slightest touch. She misjudges and tries to lift with a good amount of strength and one of the arms rip out from the brittle socket. Santana watches as the one appendage is thrown aside and Quinn tumbles back, almost twisting her ankle as she trips over another nearby body.

"Q!"

It's Coach's crazy training that saves her (again) from landing back into a pile of dead zombies and she barely manages to find solid ground to regain her footing. Santana is there, in another second and Quinn grabs onto her for support.

They stare at each other for a moment as Quinn catches her breath.

"Thanks, S," and they let go.

"Yeah. Be more careful, geez."

***Static***

"_Q! Are you okay?" _

They both turn and see Brittany waving to them from the steps.

***Static***

"_Everything okay there, O Captain, my captain?"_

Quinn rolls her eyes when she hears Puck's voice. She didn't think that he would even know that poem. She gives Brittany a thumbs up before she tugs off her glove to grab the radio.

"Yeah, everything's fine and dandy. Just—be careful lifting these things—the bodies are a lot more fragile than they look. Over."

"_Aye aye captain! Over."_

Quinn's expecting Rachel's voice through the radio any second, but she's surprised when that's the end of the transmissions. Concerned, she takes a quick look around to determine her location.

A shout and everyone turns and winces as they watch Finn fall back onto some dead bodies.

Guess he didn't get the memo.

Quinn swallows hard as Santana suppresses the urge to throw up when Finn clambers to his feet and his back is stained with dark maroon. It also doesn't help that they're surrounded by the smell of death.

"Okay, we'll need to do this another way."

Santana gives her a look. She's feeling sick but her sarcasm's still doing fine. "_No_, really? What gave you that idea, Q?"

/-/

"Ugh." Finn is glad that Quinn has ordered them to layer up, because from the expression on Rachel's face, he knows his back is _covered_.

Rachel wants to respond to Quinn's message but her conscience wins out and she places a hesitant hand on Finn's arm, making sure to avoid the wet dark stain. "A-are you alright, Finn?"

He shakes his head in frustration because he really wants to take a shower now. He's a guy, so he's used to being dirty, but this is all kinds of gross.

"Y-yeah," he stammers out before taking a deep breath and regrets it almost immediately. The mask is a weak barrier and it's like the smell is lingering _on_ him which is only confirmed when Rachel turns her head away.

"This sucks."

\-\

"Ouch," Puck comments when he sees his best friend take the fall.

"I can't do this," Kurt says shakily as he prods one of the bodies with his shovel. "It-it's too disgusting and I'm too delicate for this."

Puck turns to regard him. "Listen man, you know, I don't care that you're gay or anything like that, right?"

Kurt looks at him and nods hesitantly.

"Because you seriously need to man up," Puck tells him as he gives him a light shove. It's enough to send Kurt stepping back and he utters a squawk of protest that Puck ignores. He knows that Brittany's on the lookout, watching their backs so the noise isn't an issue. "Look where we're at, what we're doing. Man, you freaking survived being splattered on by someone and you're telling me that you're delicate? You're Kurt Hummel, dude. A _survivor_. Rachel's over there, shaking in her oversized boots but she's trying her best. Tell me at least you still have your pride in being a guy even though you play for the other team?"

Kurt glances over to where he can see Rachel offering a hand to Finn. He turns and watches as Quinn points to the floor and tells Santana something.

Everyone's doing their part and trying their best.

He takes in a slow breath to brace himself, making sure to breath through his mouth because the smell will just set him off again. "Al-alright. You're right, Puck. I can do this. I can _do_ this."

"Hells yeah," Puck psyches them up with his enthusiasm and Kurt finds himself smiling despite the situation.

"Any tips, to get through this?"

"Just pretend it's jello, or ketchup, or something."

"...Oh God, I'll never be able to look at food the same way again."

\-\

Quinn and Santana are now using their tools to shove and push any bodies that are too decomposed to carry to the side. After that one mishap, no one wants to end up like Finn and they're being extra cautious to make sure it doesn't happen.

Instead of carrying the bodies by their entirely _too _fragile arms and legs, they've figured out that the clothes they're wearing are a lot more durable and they've been hauling zombies in this way. For the most part the clothes have held up and they haven't had to deal with anymore torn body parts.

Minus the ones that just fell off even without _any_ prompting whatsoever.

There's plenty of trial and error and only a few close encounters, but soon, there's an established method to this madness, and a good portion of the front of the school is already cleared within two hours.

The smell though, is something they still can't get used to.

Lunch is bypassed because everyone's appetite, including Puck's and Finn's, is reeling from all the gore surrounding them. They just want to finish and never deal with this, _ever_ again.

Brittany's there, still on the front steps, keeping an eye out for any moving zombies and she has already re-killed ten in that time frame.

Just as Quinn stops to catch her breath and Santana takes another break to keep her meager breakfast down, the radio buzzes and Rachel's voice is cutting through the stillness.

"_Finn and I, found something rather…disconcerting_. _Over_."

They can hear the nervousness in her voice.

Quinn pulls off her now stained glove and grabs the walkie-talkie with her clean hand.

"What is it?" she asks tiredly. She's hating all these horrible curveballs that are being thrown their way.

"_I…well, I think—it's something you should see for yourselves_."

Quinn and Santana share a look and they scan the area and spot Rachel and Finn over on the other side. Their attention is focused on something lying on the floor in front of them.

Quinn turns and signals to Brittany, telling her to join them and her and Santana start making their way cautiously across the emptying lot.

When they reach the couple, Rachel gives Quinn a worried look but her eyes are drawn to Santana and there's an unreadable expression on her face.

Quinn gives a mental sigh, preparing herself before she places her attention to the ground.

There are two bodies, sprawled and laid out. They are well into the decomposing phase and the worms and the rotting flesh just accentuates the death lingering in the air. Their clothes are torn and covered with blood and dirt and guts and gore—but even with all that, even with the original colors dyed and stained a dark red, the particular jackets that they're wearing are something that everyone can recognize with a closer glance.

Quinn looks over to Santana as dark eyes take in the sight. Finn, and even Rachel are quiet as they watch the cheerleader struggle to rein in her emotions.

"Rachel?" the blonde breaks the silence and turns to the shorter girl. "Do you recognize any of them?"

A shake of the head is given as an answer. Quinn doesn't want to ask, but she needs to know so she looks back to Santana who's just staring, transfixed, at the prone bodies on the ground.

"S?"

The Cheerio doesn't respond and closes her eyes instead. Brittany and Puck and Kurt have now wandered over to see what's wrong. One look to Santana's grim expression and Brittany walks to her and places a comforting hand on her back; it's one of the few still clean spots on her.

As if sensing the blonde's presence, Santana steels herself before she opens her eyes. "Yeah," she eventually croaks out harshly. "I recognize—the guy on the left." Brown eyes glare at the incriminating evidence offered to them. "He was a new transfer to the hospital from New York. Came in around three months ago; was in the same department as my dad."

Even with his mask on, Puck lets out a soft whistle because this is the kind of stuff that horror movies (real life) were made from.

"Was he there?" Quinn presses on. "That day when your parents were leaving to volunteer?"

There's a pause, as Santana tries her hardest to remember. Rachel remains silent, because her _parents _also work in that same hospital and this is just another hard blow to her confidence that maybe her parents aren't so innocent in this after all.

"No, he wasn't there," Santana answers eventually. Her voice conveys the relief she feels. "Dr. Miller—that's his name. He had to leave earlier—for some kind of meeting in the East Coast. My dad had to pull a few double shifts to take care of some of the work Dr. Miller left behind."

**Bang!**

A sudden gunshot interrupts their impromptu meeting and Brittany lowers her rifle. "We shouldn't all gather in one place," she tells them worriedly.

"Yeah," Quinn sighs. "We'll discuss this later—and what it might mean. Let's get back to clearing the path for now—although I have a feeling it's going to rain any minute. Rachel, you and Finn can just leave these two here and work on another area. Britt, Puck, Kurt, back to work. If anyone else sees another body with a doctor's coat or nurse's uniform, tell us."

"What are you planning to do with them, Quinn?" Rachel asks before they split up.

Quinn tightens her gloves, inspecting for holes and making sure that she's fully covered before she casts a stoic expression to the shorter girl.

"I'm going to check these bodies and see if we can find anything on them."

/-/

Quinn knows better than to ask Santana to help her and has assigned the other girl to keeping watch as added insurance instead because the last thing that she wants is a zombie sneaking up on her when she's digging around.

Santana readily agrees and arms herself with a handgun. As she keeps an eye out, she's trying her best to avoid looking directly at Quinn because she can just imagine what the blonde is seeing as she searches for _whatever_.

Quinn struggles hard not to gag when she has to brush aside some of the bugs to search through the pockets of the coat and only half succeeds before she's pulling back for a breath of less stale, decaying air.

She takes a few breaths, counts to ten, and attempts once more.

It's empty.

Next, shirt pocket. She pries off some of the dried, caked blood that has adhered the cloth together and rummages through. She's half relieved, half surprised when she hears a jangle. Her bulky gloved fingers manages to grab the item and then Quinn pulls out a pair of keys.

Coughing over her shoulder, she holds them up for Santana to see.

"Ten to one*cough*, Dr. Miller is hid-*cough* hiding something somewhere."

Santana merely shakes her head because it's taking all her effort to avoid throwing up her half digested breakfast. She'll admit though, that her respect for her captain just shot up by 10,000 points; it takes a really strong person to frisk a dead body.

Just the thought though, has Santana finally losing it and she's the first to throw up all day.

"Yup, couldn't have said it better myself, S," Quinn tells her in agreement.

\-\

"You okay?"

Rachel makes a noncommittal noise as they start moving another body, female this time, judging by the tufts of long hair, towards the side.

This whole ordeal has been filled with silence, and Finn had assumed Rachel was merely avoiding being noisy, not wanting to attract undead attention, but he's starting to have his doubts.

They deposit the body to the side and before they can go after another one, he tries once again.

"Hey, if you ever need me, or whatever, you know I'll be there for you, right?"

Rachel finally looks to him but the mask covering her face prevents him from making sense of her expression.

"I'm just tired, Finn," she lies. "I didn't really have an opportunity to sleep last night, and it's catching up to me at the moment."

"It'll probably rain soon and we can stop this," Finn tries to console her and she nods.

They start heading over to pick up another body and she remains unusually quiet.

Finn knows that this is _Quinn's_ fault and he vows to protect his girlfriend from whatever she's planning.

/-/

"Quinn's something else," Kurt states as he and Puck lift and throw another body into the growing pile.

Puck rolls his shoulders before turning the shorter boy. "What? You turning straight now?"

Kurt shakes his head. "No, but, I mean, Finn's a great guy, super cute, super hot," he ignores Puck when he fake vomits, "but, I'm kind of glad that Quinn's the leader."

Kurt knows that Puck has his loyalty to his best friend and he's surprised when the football player merely agrees.

"Yeah, she's a pretty cool leader. And I'd rather follow behind her than him, if you know what I mean," he waggles his eyebrows and Kurt rolls his eyes.

"Heterosexuals," he says with a scoff.

\-\

Brittany does another sweep around the school yard and when she's content with what she sees, she lowers her gun until it's hanging by the strap around her shoulder. With her hands free, she yawns and stretches to work out the knots in her back from using and holding the gun for such an extended amount of time.

It's nothing she's not used to though, because Coach loved to hang out at shooting ranges for hours. There were also a few field trips where Coach had her and Quinn hiding in some bushes from dusk till dawn for sniper training.

But, that's another story for another day and Brittany finishes her stretch and quickly reaches for the rifle to continue her assigned task.

Just as she brings the telescope to eyelevel, she feels a flicker of something cold and wet on her nose and blinks. She tilts her face upwards, towards the dark clouds and another droplet hits her face.

The rain has finally reached Lima.

/-/

When she feels that first drop of rain, Santana nearly drops to the ground in relief. She doesn't though and instead offers a silent prayer of thanks to the sky above and promptly lets go of the body she's holding.

"S!" Quinn almost pitches forward with the sudden added weight and she gives Santana a glare when she straightens up.

"It's raining, Q! Time to pack it up and get back inside!"

Completely ignoring the blonde, Santana starts moving to the front to meet up with Brittany and to pick up her rifle and shoes.

As Santana half jogs, she makes a path of clothes and equipment as she sheds off her ruined gear. She's clean by the time she reaches Brittany and slips off her ruined shoes for her new ones before helping the taller blonde grab the bag full of solar lights. She picks up her rifle and the two are the first to head to the shelter.

Quinn shakes her head at Santana's sudden burst of energy and pulls off her gloves, throwing them to the side before pulling off her mask and reaching for the walkie-talkie.

"In case the water falling down didn't give it away, it's raining. Stop whatever you're doing, get your rifle, trade in your shoes, and start moving to the shelter. Don't forget to ditch your dirty clothes before you grab your gun, you might get the strap dirty."

Pause.

"This especially means you, Finn."

***Static***

"_Agreed! Over."_

***Static***

"_I'll make sure he gets rid of them, Quinn. We're on our way. Over!"_

After abandoning their soiled clothing and materials, they collect their items and hurry over to the shelter before the heavy downpour can fall. One by one they quickly start clambering up the ladder.

Quinn ushers them inside and then she's pulling up the side ladder and moving to the entrance.

She's already soaked thoroughly before she can even draw herself into the opening. A quick survey of the area and then the hatch is closed and she's sliding down. Her clothes are slick from the water and she almost slips but manages to catch herself at the last moment.

Her landing is barely passable and a towel covers her vision as soon as her boots touch base. She reaches up and pulls it off and Santana's there, greeting her with a wide smirk. The other two cheerleaders have managed to avoid most of the rain due to their rush and she's smug because of it.

"You totes look like a drowned rat, Q."

Quinn pulls off her hair tie and deliberately flips her wet hair to the side. Santana scowls when the water hits her and Quinn gives her a grin of her own.

"Thanks, S. I don't know how I would live without you," she responds before she starts toweling dry her hair.

Santana opens but closes her mouth when a voice interrupts.

"San, can you help me? I think I have water in my ear."

She wants to insult Quinn but there are more important things at hand.

"I totes get mines back, Q. Remember that." And then she's making her way over to the taller blonde.

With the towel covering her head, Quinn stops drying her hair and sighs. A thought occurs to her and she really hopes that the _rain_ isn't contaminated.

And if it is, _well_.

\-\

There's a small queue for the shower room as they all wait their turn to wash with soap and the rest of the peroxide but, eventually everyone is clean, dry, and making their way back into the Main Room wearing a change of clothes.

They all take their seats at the table as Puck(surprisingly) mans the stove and prepares their food.

It's a special treat today, in celebration of Kurt's diagnosis.

The coffee maker has been switched on and the cups are filled and their late lunch is served.

Quinn's the last to emerge, familiar side braid in her hair and dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt covered by her McKinley hoodie. As soon as she practically collapses into her usual seat, a plate of pan fried tater tots and a fresh cup of coffee is pushed her way.

"Thanks."

She foregoes the ketchup just like everyone else _because_ and they all dig into their meals. They're all surprisingly hungry despite everything and when Quinn's the first to finish her portion, she sips at her coffee and waits for the others.

One by one, the forks are lowered and Puck announces his satisfaction with the food with a loud belch, earning him disgusted looks once more for his outstanding table manners.

The creamer in the coffee helps dull the bitterness and Quinn makes a mental note to find some hot chocolate mix before she places her cup down.

Expectant eyes are looking towards her because she's _leader_ and there's that usual fear that overwhelms her because she still doesn't like holding their lives in her hands. She ignores it though, because she's really good at that and straightens up in her seat despite her weariness.

Meeting time.

"Alright, as you guys know, we've been here for five days now. First day was the setup. Second day," she glances at Santana and Brittany briefly as she taps the table with her fingers, "was gathering supplies. Third day was when Kurt was possibly infected and the fourth day is when we found the tunnel. Today's the fifth day; Kurt's fine and we've managed to clear out most of the school yard, which is good. What we need to do now though is list out our priorities and figure out how we're going to get out of here. We've wasted a lot time even if we had good reasons to."

She looks around at their worried expressions because it's been five days. Five, very short, but very long days. The longer that they're here, the higher the chance that their window of finding a way of escaping is closing, fast.

"Well," Rachel says after a moment. "Our highest priority is to procure a working vehicle that will enable us to make the travel to Indiana."

Puck nods in agreement. "Second would be to keep the shelter well stocked—we don't know how long we'll be here and we need supplies to stay alive."

"What about finding survivors?" Brittany asks.

No one responds and Quinn turns to the other blonde.

"If we see anyone and if it's safe enough, we'll help. But that's no longer one of our worries. The few survivors we've run into have placed us in danger every time, even if it wasn't on purpose. It's harsh, I know, but if we want to survive we'll have to put ourselves before anyone else."

It's a dose of the unforgiving world that they've stepped into and Quinn locks eyes with Brittany because she knows, that out of everyone in the group, the taller blonde is the most sympathetic.

"_Don't_ be a hero unless you're willing to sacrifice your life."

Quinn lets the message sink in before she brings up the next topic.

"We don't have much to work with and, judging from everything we've seen, I think it's safe to say that those lights _are_ from the hospital. And unfortunately, it's our only lead at this point."

"Are those lights even still on?" Kurt questions.

No one's sure.

"It's hard to tell during the day, even with the clouds," Quinn answers. "If the rain lets up tonight we can double check. I've been thinking though, even if those lights are on, it doesn't mean that whoever turned them on is still there. Five days have passed—plenty of time for them to leave. Question is, did someone go inside to turn them on, or was someone already there? And, what's exactly providing the electricity? Power's down for the whole city, and I'm sure I've never seen any lights on in the southwest until the first day we were left here. Did they switch on an emergency generator, or..." she trails off, because she doesn't know.

"Further more," Rachel says nervously, "if the lights were turned on sometime during the day of the evacuation, how did they gain access to the hospital in the first place? Even if they were originally inside, the southwest area was and actually still is, thriving with zombies."

"It had to have been the military!" Finn declares. "Who else has that much firepower and guns and stuff to defend themselves against zombies?"

"Maybe," is Quinn's response. It makes sense, even if Finn was the one who said it. "So, say, most of the military is assigned the task to help protect the city, while there's another group at the hospital for some reason. Maybe, because they know the city is going to be abandoned, they go in, find the generator or whatever and turn on the lights...so they can find something that was left behind?" She shrugs her shoulders, not sure where to take this.

"Maybe...maybe someone left their diary in there?" Brittany suggests because she remembers how sad she had been when she couldn't get hers.

"Had to be something special if they were willing to step into the hotspot for that," Puck tells them. He remembers how many zombies they saw on their way towards the southwest.

"What other information do we know? Oh! Quinn," Rachel looks to the blonde, "were you able to acquire anything of significance while searching those bodies earlier?"

The cheer captain merely reaches into her sweater pocket and pulls out the set of keys (soaked and cleaned with soap and peroxide, _twice_) and lays it on the table as an answer. "Only these."

Puck grabs them and holds them up for examination. "One of these are for a padlock of some sort. It's different than keys used for homes or buildings."

Quinn points to the second key. "What about the other one?"

"A commercial building, something with heavy doors," he determines. "It's a four sided key—those locks are harder to pick open and the keys are hard to duplicate. It's not impossible, but the extra time it takes could deter any possible amateur thieves."

"Keys to a hospital?" Quinn throws out the suggestion that everyone's thinking.

"Possible, but," he shrugs, "we can't know for sure unless we find the lock that fits this key."

Puck slides them back to her and she's about to slip it into her pocket when Rachel holds out her hand from across the table. Quinn raises an eyebrow at her and deposits it into her outstretched hand.

Rachel starts turning the keys over as Quinn continues their discussion. "If we can figure out where these keys go, maybe they'll also give us some answers, like why Dr. Miller was even here in the first place? New York is a pretty good distance away and unless his zombie somehow shambled its way many, many miles across numerous states, I think it's safe to assume that he died here. The fact that we also found another doctor's corpse too, right next to him means that they were at least working together when they died. Working in the hospital maybe. Maybe, they were the ones who turned on the lights."

Kurt rests his chin on his propped up hand and looks around. "Maybe, this Dr. Miller went to New York, but he came back to Lima when the meeting was over and Santana didn't know about that?"

Santana crosses her arms across her chest, almost defensively before replying. "It's possible. Contact with my Dad was pretty rare before they evacuated and even then it was mostly a hi and bye kind of thing."

"Maybe," Finn interrupts suddenly, "maybe Dr. Miller had to fly back to Lima, because he's the one in charge of this super secret zombie project that they have running in the hospital. And they have a secret lab underground where they—"

"Do you even listen to yourself when you talk?" Santana asks him as she gives him an angry glare.

"That, actually might be a possibility Finn," Rachel says as she gives Quinn back the keys and everyone looks at her in disbelief. Quinn merely pockets them as Rachel confidently receives their stares.

Santana scoffs. "Listen, I know you're trying to be, I don't know, supportive of each other, or whatever you want to call it, but—"

"No, Santana, it's—" Rachel pauses, takes a deep breath and exhales, "hear me out first. _Please."_ Her voice is almost pleading.

Quinn shoots Santana a pointed look and she sighs. "Ugh, fine."

Rachel shifts in her seat before she begins voicing her thoughts. "I'm merely taking everything into consideration. From the information that we have gathered about these zombies, we already know what attracts them to a certain area."

"Blood and heat," Finn responds confidently. He seems almost proud he knew the answer.

Rachel stops herself from huffing in annoyance at his interruption before continuing. "Correct, not to mention noise as well. Think back to when this whole situation first began: the southwestern area has been labeled as a 'hotspot' almost since day one. The initial infections were also reported to have occurred there as well. But, it was never explained how the infections came about, merely that some citizens were falling ill to a new disease. And, taking into account on how we now know that zombies are attracted to blood, and, to the very nature of a hospital, let's say that it would have been the ideal environment for a fresh, new zombie to...hunt, I suppose we'll call it. This will explain the main reason why the southwest was a hotspot: the hospital itself. The main problem with this is that the numbers of infections should have declined as soon as the hospital was evacuated."

"But it didn't," Quinn recalls. "There were more infections and that's when they started adding in more barricades. They also added in those guard posts to keep the zombies from bleeding into other parts of the city."

Bad choice of words, and she sees everyone swallow lightly.

Rachel purses her mouth into a grim line. "Exactly. Which doesn't make any sense, unless there was still something there, attracting them, or..." she hesitates, knowing that Santana won't take this lightly. "Or...the zombies themselves originated in the hotspot."

There's a hush when they realize what Rachel's implying.

Blink, and then Santana is diving forward, trying to reach the smaller brunette even with a good distance of table and dishware between them.

"San!"

"S! Calm down!"

Both blondes grab the angry cheerleader and pull her back into her seat.

"I will freaking _cut_ you, you hobbit!" Santana snarls out as she pushes against strong hands. "'The zombies themselves originated in the hotspot,'" she repeats in a condescending manner. "My dad was the one _helping_ to heal those infections! He was there, putting in extra hours, trying to find a goddamn _cure_, trying to save miserable lives of ungrateful people like you!"

Rachel looks almost calm, like she was expecting this, and Finn doesn't notice and puts a comforting arm around her shoulders before turning to the cheerleader. "Hey! Back off, alright?"

The singer shrugs off his heavy arm and clears her throat. "Santana, I wasn't trying to deliberately antagonize you. I apologize if—"

"Apologize? _Apologize?_" Santana tries to stand once more but Quinn and Brittany both hold her down.

"S, calm down," the shorter blonde orders her.

Dark eyes swivel to glare at Quinn. She's ready, a sharp retort on the tip of her tongue, but hazel eyes meet her stare dead on. It's a battle against wills and Santana steps down, grudgingly.

She grumbles angrily and leans into Brittany, feeling almost hurt that her captain was defending someone else.

Defending _Rachel, freaking, Berry._

Gross._  
><em>

"Rachel," Quinn turns to the other girl who nods gratefully.

She fidgets with the zipper of her jacket before she starts speaking once more. "Everything is mere speculation, of course, but when we consider all the facts, all the possibilities, there's no real explanation why there were still zombies and why they were still attracted to the southwest. After the hospital was evacuated, the southwest was also sealed off and any residents were expelled and businesses were closed. The area was abandoned, leaving the zombies with no one new to hunt. The utilities were also shut off in the area, rendering any possible heat, given off from equipment or any electrical substations, cold. Most importantly, with the military stations established the amount of infections should have been contained and should have eventually tapered off. There shouldn't have been any new victims falling into this disease because we were supposed to be protected."

"Well," Puck says after a beat. "Okay I totally get that, but what if, those zombies are from the other cities? Like Columbus or whatever, was overrun and they kept moving into our area because of fresh blood?"

"We would have heard it on the news," Kurt reminds him. "I mean, the infections were being covered 24/7. All the TV stations were giving updates by the minute; I would remember, I was so annoyed they cancelled all my shows."

Rachel nods. "That's a good point, Noah. But, say the reasons that they barricaded the city was to ensure that the zombies from outside could only enter in through the southwest and not because they wanted to keep the zombies inside from escaping—"

Santana moves to interrupt, but Quinn glances to Brittany and the taller blonde places a calming hand on Santana's arm. There's a noise that sounds dangerously like a growl but she keeps her mouth shut.

Rachel shifts a bit, so that she's further away from grabbing range of the taller brunette before continuing. "As I was saying, if the zombies were coming from the neighboring cities and those cities were already deemed a lost cause, our close proximity of such a dangerous area should have resulted in Lima being evacuated weeks ago instead of them merely adding in more barricades. We already had military at our disposal and the hospital had been evacuated previously; it would have been the simple task of rounding up all the remaining civilians and moving us to Indiana. But, they didn't."

"Think about it, Berry," Santana cuts in. She ignores the look Quinn gives her and presses forward. "Maybe, they didn't want to evacuate us to Indiana yet because the state couldn't accommodate everyone yet. They made room for the people in the hospital but enough room for another city? That would have been tough. Not to mention, what if other cities had also been evacuated to Indiana? No ways could they handle that many people at a time. They already had military here, so maybe it was easier for them to just defend the city rather than moving us. Save on resources, or something."

Quinn drums her fingers on the table. "Possible. But, that still means that they were hiding information from us. The authorities kept telling us that 'everything was under control.'"

"Duh, Q," Santana looks at her cheer captain exasperatedly. "If they told everyone the truth, there would've been a city-wide panic and riots and yada yada."

"Not like we could've left on our own anyways," Kurt adds in. "They started confiscating vehicles and everything to make those barricades. They emptied out my dad's whole workshop, equipment, the whole shabang. And then if we wanted to leave we had to book tickets with the military buses."

"I had tickets to leave this week actually," Puck confesses.

Finn turns to him, almost looking upset. "Hey, you never told me that."

He shrugs. "My mom was scared so she wanted to leave."

"Like I said," Santana interrupts readily, "the barricades were easier to put up rather than evacuating everyone and they might as well use stuff that's right there to make them; that's economical, very _green_. Something I know you'd appreciate, Berry. And, they probably didn't want to split their personnel between handling zombies _and_ making sure that people didn't drive their cars into the barricades, so that's why they took away the vehicles. The buses? There's just too many losers in Lima and they obviously didn't have enough buses to move _everyone_ at the same time, so they were moving people in small groups. It also gives whatever city the people are going to time to prepare shelters or whatever. It's not like we weren't able to leave! You just had to wait."

Rachel nods hesitantly, but it's obvious she's not convinced. "It still doesn't explain the increasing number of zombies that kept appearing in the city. The city's population was decreasing—why weren't the number of zombies decreasing in correlation? And, even though we were still allowed to leave, everyone was also required to go through a 'pre-screening' before they would actually hand out the tickets."

"The pre-screenings were to make sure people weren't infected so they wouldn't spread the disease! And more and more zombies were coming from the other cities!" Santana yells at Rachel while standing. "All this stuff that you're 'pointing out', doesn't exactly scream government conspiracy to me, Berry."

The singer doesn't back down and merely lifts her chin. "Then, explain to me why the lights in the hospital are on. And, the tunnel that we discovered."

Here, Santana falters because that's something that she _can't_ explain. She doesn't know.

She falls back into her seat.

"Maybe, when they turned off the city's electricity, it accidentally turned on the emergency generator in the hospital?" Brittany points out. "Q mentioned that the generator here, turned on by itself when they cut the power."

Santana gives Brittany an appreciative smile and nods while pointing to the taller blonde. "See? Perfect explanation."

Rachel gives a small shake of her head. "You're forgetting, Santana, that they already turned off all the power in the southwest prior to the city wide evacuation. If the electricity shutting off was the trigger to turning on the emergency generator, it would have turned on weeks ago."

She pauses, waiting for Santana's rebuttal, but when there's no response, she continues.

"There's also no real explanation for the tunnel," she reminds them. "Which, points to the possibility that they're hiding something here, in Lima. Maybe even specifically, inside the hospital, _and_ the school is a part of it. Think about it, issuing a sudden evacuation for a city would have drawn unwanted outside attention and would have raised some dangerous questions. They obviously wanted to keep up their activities without making it seem suspicious that the military was involved. Therefore, everything in the city is setup; the barricades, hospital evacuation, deliberate withholding of information. The fact that we had to rely on the military to leave the city is very telling of how they were trying to control every variable, at least towards the end. Which brings us full circle back to the lights that suddenly turn on _after_ the evacuation and Finn's suggestion of some type of secret project, secret government type of hush hush."

"See!" Finn tells them. "Those video games are good for something!"

Puck shakes his head. "Dude, so not the time."

Quinn sighs and rubs at her eyes tiredly. "Okay, so, let's _pretend_—" she emphasizes this word as she quirks an eyebrow at Santana, "that they're hiding something in the hospital. Uhm, okay, we'll start with Dr. Miller. He's called in to be in charge of this 'secret project' or whatever they have here. His cover story is that...he's there to fill in a much needed spot in an understaffed area in the hospital; more specifically in the same department as Santana's dad. The same department that, eventually becomes the ones that help treat these infections. Him working besides them allows him to...I don't know, keep track of the zombies or whatever." Santana's sitting right next to her and she can just feel the heat from her glare. She ignores it. "He continues to work both jobs; hospital by day, secret lab by night. Infections continue to spread, but, it's not enough to be suspicious, so they continue. Then, he has to fly back to New York to report his findings and his supervisor tells him, stop working at the hospital, you need to concentrate 100% on this project now, so Dr. Miller goes back to Lima, but secretly."

"And then," Rachel fills in, "something even worse happens with whatever they're doing. They decide they can't continue to have the hospital operating; only _half_ the staff are privy to this secret information and it's getting harder to keep their experiments under wraps. And that's, when they decide to initiate an evacuation of the hospital—getting rid of prying eyes and any chances that their whatever can be exposed. The ones who leave are the ones who don't know."

Here, she matches Santana's gaze and the cheerleader finally _gets_ it; Rachel's trying just as desperately as she is to convince herself that her parents aren't involved in this zombie conspiracy. Santana's body language changes and she relaxes slightly against Brittany.

A nod of acknowledge and Rachel's eyes shine with unsaid understanding.

Quinn shakes her head and reaches for her cup, drinking in a mouthful of liquid to take away the bitter taste that's developing in her mouth. She licks her lips, reveling in the coffee flavor as this 'hypothetical' situation slowly comes together.

Rachel places her hands on the table and folds them to stop her nervous fidgeting. "They continue to experiment, but in complete secrecy this time. The infections continue to spread, and then...maybe something happens to Dr. Miller. They lose contact, and assuming the worst, decide to abandon the project and the military finally tells the Mayor to initiate an evacuation. But, not because of the zombie problem, but, because there's a possible _contamination_ in the water source. It's their cover story in case anyone questions their motives."

"So they gather the rest of the people in the city," Quinn concludes. "And, most of the military goes to help with the evacuations while another team is sent to the hospital to find Dr. Miller, and..."

"What did they find, Q?" Brittany looks to her cheer captain anxiously.

Quinn remembers the bodies they had moved earlier. She gives Brittany a sad smile. "Nothing good, B."

Santana feels Brittany grabbing her hand and she holds on tightly.

The room is quiet as they all try to wrap their heads around this story. Even if this was a 'mere speculation' _everything_ was starting to fit together perfectly.

"Man, I'm so on the fence about this," Puck says as he runs his hand through his mohawk. "On one hand, super cool conspiracy and for once we're in on the action and I feel like this is what my life has been building up to. On the other hand, we're surrounded by zombies and we're stuck in some government conspiracy thing without a way to escape."

"What about the tunnel in the school then?" Finn reminds them.

Quinn frowns as she thinks back to the day of the evacuation. There had been military personnel there, helping to force students to exit the school grounds. She doesn't know if the teachers were in on this, but, she remembers Brittany telling her that Mr. Schue wouldn't let her back into the school to get her diary—

Her eyes widen. "The school was under lockdown! Brittany wanted to go back inside to get her diary but she couldn't go back in—"

"Because they were using the tunnel to get to the Hospital!" Rachel finishes for her. "Maybe that's how they were able to enter the hospital to turn on the lights; the tunnel provides a backdoor in which they wouldn't need to worry about the zombies or about someone finding them out!

Kurt snaps his fingers suddenly. "Figgins must've been in on this somehow; it'll explain how he got the military to fortify the school before anything else. I always wondered _why_ they would agree to that."

"Damn," Puck curses. "Okay, yeah this definitely sucks. If the school is in on this, then this situation totally blows. I _knew_ teachers were evil!"

"It might also explain why Finn was able to find that fake wall in the AV club," Quinn says as she taps the table once more. "Considering how easy it was to gain access to it, JewFro would have found it eventually. That guy is super creepy, but I'll admit he knows how to dig for information. But, say that there's some type of special equipment needed to open the passage. The military uses it, opens it up, and they only temporarily fix the wall into place because they're expecting to exit that same way."

"The fact that they never patched up the wall again..." Rachel glances nervously around.

"They never made it out," Quinn breaths out. "The hospital is a definitely a bad idea. Even if it might be our only way out."

"Hey, wait," Puck sits up when he remembers something. "What if, they exited through that other part of the tunnel? Where it splits off? What if that's how they got out of the city! And it wouldn't have mattered if they left the wall like that; the city was being abandoned anyways!"

"It's a possibility!" Rachel says excitedly, brightening immediately. It's the best news, other than Kurt being not infected, that they've heard all day. "We should definitely investigate that section of the tunnel!"

"Calm down, hobbit," Santana looks at her, almost with a sneer. "We don't even know if any of this really happened. Not without actually going to the hospital and checking it out."

"It's a good lead though, S," Quinn tells her.

The taller brunette narrows her eyes at her captain, wondering if Quinn is saying this because she's trying to keep their hopes up, or if she's saying this to merely keep a _certain_ person's hopes up.

"Yeah, the tunnel is the best lead we have so far," Finn adds in.

Santana rolls her eyes at that; Finn was _definitely_ sucking up to Berry with that comment.

"Q?" Brittany looks at her cheer captain apprehensively. "Do you think, Coach was a part of this?"

Quinn pauses at the question. There's a lot of evidence stacking up against Coach at this point—the shelter, the fact that she has been teaching Quinn and Brittany marksmanship for a while now. The massive gun collection, the generator, the clothes. Even with all that though...

Quinn shakes her head. "No, zombies aren't Coach's style, B. If she had wanted people dead, she would have killed them herself. I think, Coach might have known that _something_ was happening, but she didn't know what. And you know Coach, B, she was paranoid about everything. Even if nothing had happened she would have made a shelter just for fun."

Brittany seems satisfied with the answer and nods, obviously relieved.

"We should maybe try and leave before the lights in the hospital turn off," Rachel points out suddenly.

"Why?" Puck asks her.

"I think, there's a specific reason why our generator has attracted so little attention despite being an obvious heat source," Rachel explains nervously.

Quinn lets out a frustrated sigh. "And there's our time limit."

"Uh," Finn scratches his head. "What do you mean?"

Santana turns on Finn because he's the only one she can still target. Her words are biting and Quinn would have felt bad if she felt bad, but, she doesn't.

"You were the one who was looking all smug earlier, Finnept! 'Blood and heat'!" she mimics him. "To power a building that size, the generator would need to be like, as big as you and your hugemongous ego. Just thinking about it makes me feel _cramped_ being in the same room as you. Bigger generator equals more heat. Do the math!"

"Oh," Finn looks abashed when he realizes what Rachel meant. He lowers his head, almost pouting.

Everyone waits expectantly for Rachel to step in and defend him or at least reprimand Santana for her ego comment, but when she remains quiet, Kurt clears his throat to break the awkward atmosphere that's developing.

"So, what will our plan of action be?" he asks while looking around the room.

Quinn thinks for a moment before answering. "First thing," she holds up her index finger, "even though there's the time limit, we still need to grab supplies. Bleach, peroxide, food, water, soap, clothes. Make those molotovs. Batteries, more bullets, lights, more weapons if we can find them. We want to be well stocked just in case anything happens. Next," she holds up a second finger, "the tunnel. At this point, it's all we have. We don't know where it'll take us, but hopefully we'll find something there."

"It might be a dead end," Kurt reminds her.

"Yeah, that's a possibility too," Quinn sighs out. "We're running out of time though. There's a third option, where we wait this out, stay safe, and hope that someone will find us. The problem with staying here is that, eventually we'll run out of supplies. Or," she pauses, "_they'll_ overrun us."

Puck summarizes their situation eloquently. "So either way, we're kind of screwed."

Exactly.

/-/

By the time they hammer out all the details and plan their routes, teams, strategies, it's already time for dinner and the meeting is adjourned.

Tater tots and canned foods are again opened, cooked, eaten and their day is officially over.

From inside the Main Room, they can still hear the pitter patter of rain hitting the metal roof outside and they know it's not stopping anytime soon. Regardless, Quinn climbs up the ladder and, while using her jacket as a makeshift cover, she pokes her head through the opening and looks to the southwest.

She thinks it's ironic that this time she's relieved to find that the lights are still on.

She closes the hatch, slides back down, and rejoins the others.

\-\

They're all boned tired from all that body lifting, but none of them want to sleep yet, for various reasons.

Puck and Finn are feeling deprived of their games and as a last ditch effort, they've settled on some old fashioned Tic Tac Toe to pass the time. Maybe they can find some board games or something later. But, they're hoping they won't need them because they're anticipating leaving Lima soon.

Santana and Brittany are keeping busy, playing with the two cats and giving them some well needed exercise and pampering.

Rachel and Kurt are working their way through the material in the shelves, trying to determine exactly why Coach chose to have some of these magazines or books inside.

And Quinn? Quinn's now sitting at the table with all of their used weapons laid out in front of her. She's meticulously taking each individual rifle, gun, apart and cleaning them with a cleaning kit she had found buried behind the gloves in the storage room. Coach's gun collection is extensive enough that discarding any defective gun is _nothing_, but Quinn, still remembers that this was Coach's prized possession, left in her care.

She has already fixed the gun that gave Santana problems the other day, but the rifle that Rachel had used as a blunt weapon had been a lost cause—sentimental or not, even Quinn draws the line at cleaning off zombie brains.

Cleaning those keys had been bad enough.

Puck finally gets fed up from losing all the time because Finn _cheats_ and decides that he's bored and tired enough to call it a day.

"'Night," he tells everyone.

He's the first to retire into the bedroom.

The yawning is infectious and one by one, everyone slowly caves into their boredom and exhaustion and they file inside to sleep.

The last three remaining, the only ones still awake _this_ time, are Quinn, Rachel, and Finn.

Rachel is now sitting across from Quinn, reading "The Art of War" as the blonde continues her arduous task. She'll finish this gun and then go to sleep and it's obvious that Rachel is waiting for her. Finn is still awake because he doesn't trust Quinn and he's sitting besides his girlfriend looking bored and obviously very tired.

"Hey, uh," he finally says to her. Rachel doesn't respond, too absorbed in her reading. "Rachel?"

Quinn barely manages to hold back an eye roll as she runs the cloth over the barrel of the gun.

"Rachel!" Finn practically shouts in her ear and she jumps at the sound.

She almost throws her book at him in fright but stops just in time. "Finn!" she whispers out to him in a scolding tone. "The others are sleeping. If you wanted my attention you could have just whispered, quietly."

He has that weird constipated look on his face when he gets annoyed or confused and Quinn turns her face away, covering her mouth with her shoulder to keep the mocking laugh from escaping.

"But I did call you!"

"Shhh!" she shushes him and he frowns. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" She places the book on the table, marking the page and looks to him expectantly.

He grabs her hand, almost possessively, because he knows that Quinn's watching them even if she's pretending not to. "I just wanted to know when you were going to sleep."

"Oh, well." Rachel deliberately extracts herself from his grip and points to the book that she has set aside. "I wanted to finish this chapter first. I dislike stopping in the middle—the incompleteness bothers me and keeps me awake until I finally go back and finish it."

"Uhm, well, how many pages do you have left?"

"Well," she grabs the books and does a quick inventory of the chapter. "Ten or so pages, give or take."

"Cool. Uh, I'll wait for you then."

Rachel blinks, because it's unusual for Finn to wait for her for _anything_. She's also getting annoyed. "That's alright, Finn. It'll still take at least half an hour; I like rereading the passages to guarantee that I understand all the meanings and to make sure I didn't miss anything important that the author is trying to convey."

"Nah, that's cool. Like, I'll feel bad going to sleep first," he explains lamely and Quinn can't help it—she makes a noise that's a cross between a scoff and a snort before she can stop herself.

"Something wrong, Quinn?" Finn glares at her and she shakes her head.

"Nope." She doesn't even bother to look his way.

Rachel knows that Finn's jealousy is still there—and even though he believes that she has forgiven him, she really hasn't.

"Finn, I know you're tired, so I insist that you get your well needed rest. Don't worry, I will be along shortly; I just need to know how this chapter finishes first."

If it was anyone else keeping Rachel company, Finn would have easily agreed. But because it's _Quinn,_ his gut instinct is telling him not to leave.

"It's cool, I'll wait. I'm not that tired anyways," he lies as he tries to disguise his yawn as a cough.

Rachel's too tired to argue right now, so she sighs, double checks the page that she is on and shuts the book close.

"Alright Finn, I'm going to get ready for bed now. So you won't have to wait." Her tone is almost hostile and it figures that Finn chooses to ignore it.

She stands up and glances over to Quinn. "Quinn—you should head to bed soon as well. It's been a tiring day."

Quinn nods in acknowledge before she starts reassembling the rifle that's in pieces in front her. "Almost done."

Rachel looks satisfied with the answer, and, leaving the book on the table, she heads over to the bathroom to start her daily bedtime routine.

Finn waits until she's through the doorway before he turns his attention back to Quinn. He leans forward and keeps his voice a whisper.

"I don't know what you're planning, trying to act like you're friends with Rachel, but I'm onto you."

He stands and gives her a threatening look that makes him look like an idiot before he walks over to the bedroom, almost strutting and giving off an attitude that would have made Santana deck him.

Quinn knows the fatigue is catching up to her because she can feel a headache developing, but whether or not it was also due to Finn's stupidity is anyone's guess.

With his back turned to her, Quinn points the now assembled, but still empty rifle at him and pretends to fire.

'Bang,' she mouths silently.

She doesn't know what she's done to receive his anger(that's a lie) but Quinn Fabray does not take lightly to accusations.

Especially from someone like Finn Hudson.

\-\

A good night's sleep has eluded Quinn since day one of this zombie world catastrophe that they've stepped into, so there's no surprise when she finds herself waking only after a few hours of rest. She's tired, but wide awake as she remains in bed, staring at the ceiling and watching the shadows that are cast from the lone solar light in the corner.

The cloudy weather _had_ been enough to charge them, and they have been scattered around, serving their original purpose as nightlights inside the shelter.

She's listening to the sounds of the others sleeping; they're all just a mere breath, whisper away. She can feel the comforting embrace of Rachel's arms around her—if she closed her eyes, maybe she could pretend to lose herself in this feeling of safety. Forget the world outside—because zombies _don't_ exist here.

Quinn though, is anything but a dreamer. She could have been, once upon a time, but a pragmatic father, grounded with extreme military discipline and almost evangelistic religious views have left her anything _but_.

Everything and nothing is slowly adding up, and what could have been a simple evacuation has turned into a deep sea of lies and they're drowning fast, with no rescue in sight.

And the scary thing is, one misstep, one mistake, one miscalculation is all it'll take for seven survivors to turn into six, into five—four,three,two,_one_.

She gently removes herself from Rachel's hold and sits up. A shift, a shuffle a few feet away, and Quinn knows that she's not the only one haunted by nightmares.

She sits and she waits, until she's sure the other two have fallen back asleep, before standing. Using the dim light, she navigates herself outside the sleeping area and into the Main Room. She sort of misses using her phone as a flashlight, but her phone is now on one of the shelves, powered down and useless because she didn't have the foresight to bring her charger.

She had set a few lights on the table earlier, knowing that she would wake up and she makes her way towards them before taking a seat across from her usual spot. She settles herself in and brings her arm up, holding her watch towards the light to check on the time.

It's 2:17am.

She releases a slow breath before lowering her arm and placing it on the table. Her arm brushes something and she glances down—it's the book that Rachel had set aside. She debates for a moment. It's been a while since she has last read "The Art of War" and decides that now's as good a time as any to refresh her memories.

Maybe she can pick up a few tips.

So, she grabs the book and moves the light closer.

It's quiet, save for the hollow sounds of rain, and that and the words of Sun Tzu are the only things keeping her company.

Quinn's not sure how much time passes, but she's well into the second chapter when she hears a soft whisper and then someone taking a seat besides her. She can't help it, she startles, snapping the book shut and is halfway to grabbing one of the rifles before she realizes who has joined her.

Noises tend to carry from the Main Room into the rest of the shelter, so she settles on conveying her annoyance to the other girl with a well placed glare. Rachel looks guilty—and Quinn almost feels bad.

They wait, making sure that no one else has woken up before they turn to each other.

"Sorry," the small brunette whispers quietly but Quinn shakes her head and shrugs.

Without asking, Rachel closes the distance between her and Quinn. A glance, and Rachel leans in and rests her head against the blonde's shoulder.

They remain close and Quinn opens the book once more. She deliberately readjusts so that the brunette has a better view of the pages. Rachel has already finished this chapter—but she doesn't mind rereading it. She could have missed something important earlier.

The storm outside continues to rage on.

And Quinn wonders how long they can keep their head up and above the water.


End file.
